Low Attendance Rates Persist in New Zealand Schools

The latest term attendance figures for New Zealand schools show that less than half of all students are attending classes regularly, which is disappointing education ministers Erica Stanford and David Seymour.

Since 2011, attendance rates have fluctuated between a low of 45.9% and a high of 48.4%, even with millions of dollars being spent on initiatives to improve attendance.

Seymour notes that attendance rates are linked to achievement, and that the new government will prioritize initiatives to increase attendance, including providing more support to families, but also more stringently enforcing legal requirements for attendance.

The government also plans to prioritize publishing attendance data in order to bring attention to the issue.