Have your say: Should parents be fined for school absences?

Thursday, 4 April 2024

Should parents be fined for school absences? Let us know in the comments below.

The Government is planning to launch what it calls an attendance action plan in an effort to reduce the number of students missing school time.

Ministry of Education figures show in term three of 2023, 24.9% of students were either moderately or chronically absent, meaning they were at school up to 80% of the term.

Students who were attending regularly - meaning over 90% - dropped from 63.1% in term 3 of 2021 to 45.9% in term 3 of 2023.

Over the same time period, justified absences (including illness) went up from 5.8% to 8.3%. Unjustified absences went up from 4.9% to 6.3%.

The ministry said “short-term illness/medical absences continued to be the main driver of non-attendance” in 2023, and concluded “the level of illness is associated with the continued incidence of Covid-19 and winter illnesses”.

Associate Education Minister David Seymour says he wants a better “balance” between public health and educational goals, and challenged the increase in illness-related absences.

“We accept Covid happened, but that’s largely subsided now, and yet we still have a doubling of the number of kids kept home for health reasons,” he told RNZ on Tuesday.

“I think we’re going to have to start being a bit clearer about what exactly is a valid reason to stay home.”

Seymour said he would consider the use of fines to drive up attendance rates, though there would be “sensitivity” around those who were unable to pay.

“I can see in perhaps a very small minority of cases where you’ve got parents who’ve had lots of chances, lots of warnings, and have the ability to pay, then maybe, just maybe the right thing to do is to fine them,” he said.

Labour opposed the idea, with education spokesperson Jan Tinetti telling Newshub fining parents “has never worked”, and deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni saying illness-related absences should be a decision for parents and doctors.

Do you think the Government should fine parents for their children missing school, and should there be stricter rules around illness-related absences? Let us know in the comments. We’ll feature some of your views below.