Hon David Seymour
Associate Minister of Education

Provisional school attendance data for Term 2 2024 released today has shown more students are back in class compared to last year, with 53.1 per cent of students regularly attending, compared with 47 per cent in Term 2 2023, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says.

“The Government has prioritised student attendance and it is having a positive impact on the number of students getting back to school. Term 1 attendance rates in 2024 were also higher than the same period in 2023,” says Mr Seymour.

“These numbers are still not good enough, but it’s a small step in the right direction.

“This data has been made available less than two weeks after the end of term, which is much quicker than under the previous Government where it was often not available until November. This transparency reflects our approach of tell the people, trust the people.

The data shows that the term’s attendance rate was lower than the Term 1 2024 rate of 61.7 per cent, this is expected to be mainly due to illness in the winter months.

“The Government has put a spotlight on school attendance and New Zealanders have been listening. More parents are prioritising school, with Flight Centre data showing travel bookings during the winter holidays were up 10 per cent from last year, while travel during the school term has dropped 30 per cent.

“Attendance on Fridays is a particular problem, being frequently lower than any other day of the week. On Friday 31 May, immediately before King’s Birthday weekend, more than a quarter of students were absent,” says Mr Seymour.

"We know that for some there are very real challenges to regular attendance, sometimes beyond their control. The Government is looking into what causes truancy to inform an attendance action plan to help families get students back to school.

“An education crisis today will turn into a crime crisis, a vulnerable children crisis, an economic crisis and an inequality crisis tomorrow. We’re addressing this by creating a culture where children know if they want to get anywhere in life, they need to get to school first.”

Notes: Regular attendance means a student is going to school for more than 90 per cent of the term. The Government’s target is to ensure 80 per cent of students are present for more than 90 per cent of the term by 2030.

The new results are available on the Education Counts website: https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/attendance

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