Hon David Seymour
Associate Minister of Education

Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that school attendance is continuing to rise. In Term 3 of 2024 51.3 per cent of students attended school regularly, an increase of 5.3 percentage points from 46 per cent in Term 3 of 2023.

“This Government has prioritised student attendance and it is having a positive impact on the number of students getting back to school. This is evidenced by every term in 2024 so far having higher attendance rates than their 2023 counter parts,” says Mr Seymour.

“These numbers are another small step in the right direction, but there is still a lot to do.

“All education regions showed increases in regular attendance, with Central and East Auckland and North and West Auckland demonstrating the largest increases compared to Term 3 2023, with increases of 7.1 and 6.9 percentage points respectively.

“We are focussed on improving educational outcomes for all Kiwi children. No matter someone’s socio-economic background, location, or ethnicity, getting your children to school is the best thing you can do to ensure they have a bright future.

“Positive education outcomes can lead to better health, higher incomes, better job stability and greater participation within communities. These are opportunities that every student deserves.

“Attendance rates at schools which face the most socioeconomic barriers were higher in Term 3 2024 than they were in Term 3 2023, I am encouraged by this.

In Term 3 2024 there has been an increase of 4.7 percentage points in regular attendance for students attending schools in the “More Barriers” equity index group, from 33.9% of students regular attending in Term 3 2023 to 38.6% of students regularly attending in Term 3 2024. This is an increase of 7,477 students.

“I hope to see this continue as schools begin investigating reasons for absence and supporting students back to school, as outlined in the STAR,” says Mr Seymour.

“Schools will be required to do this from Term 1, 2026, although schools who don’t already follow a similar approach are encouraged to start earlier, and the Ministry will have supports and toolkits in place next year.

“In Term 3 2024 regular attendance rates for Māori and Pacific students increased by 3.7 and 5.5 percentage points respectively, compared to Term 3 2023. The regular attendance rates for Asian and European/Pākehā students increased by 5.9 and 4.9 percentage points respectively.

“If we continue to make small steps like this, we will be on track to achieve our target of ensuring 80 per cent of students are present more than 90 per cent of the term by 2030.”

Attendance data can be found here Attendance | Education Counts

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