Have your say: Is the Government's truancy plan a good idea?
Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Associate Education Minister David Seymour have announced an attendance action plan to combat student truancy rates.
Seymour said the Government was making reporting and enforcement action to reduce non-attendance and truancy a high priority.
“This is part of the government’s target of ensuring 80% of students are present for more than 90% of the term by 2030,” he said.
“A key focus is getting a better understanding of the drivers of non-attendance through data. The more we define the problems the more effectively interventions can be targeted.”
The government has already implemented these changes as part of their attendance action plan:
Starting publishing of attendance data weekly from the second week of Term 2, 2024
Rolling out a communications campaign to improve awareness of the importance of students attending school from Term 2 2024
Updating public health guidance to help schools and parents to decide if a student is well enough to attend school
Clarifying expectations around attendance to school boards
They will also be bringing in the following proposals to Cabinet at a later date:
Mandating daily reporting of attendance data by Term 1 2025
Developing a Traffic Light System to set out the requirements and expectations for parents, schools, and the Ministry at different stages of a student’s attendance, with clear obligations for when a student is not attending
Making attendance a strategic priority for school boards so they have clear expectations to focus on minimising disruption to students
Using improved data and analysis to distinguish the drivers of non-attendance and targeting interventions, particularly for the chronic non-attenders or students that are now not enrolled
What do you think of the Government’s plan to combat student truancy rates? Let us know in the comments.
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