Iran war: Principals brace for truancy rise as fuel crisis hits parents’ pockets
Thursday, 9 April 2026
Principals are bracing for a rise in truancy as the fuel crisis hits parents’ pockets, warning that the return to school for Term 2 could see reality start to bite.
With the Government adamant about schools staying open, one principal expressed concerns over there being no plan or financial support for schools should attendance start to drop.
New Zealand Principals Federation executive member and Glenbrook School principal Lysandra Stuart said principals in her area had taken it upon themselves to drive students to school when parents could not afford fuel.
With those cases occurring in the last few days before the school holidays, Stuart was concerned truancies would rise when school started up again.
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“We don't want our kids staying home, but we know the reality is some people will.”
The Ministry of Education said no schools had reported a rise in absenteeism due to fuel pressure following its conversations with schools across the country, and attendance rates remained steady.
Some schools had raised concerns about the potential future impacts of fuel supply challenges, including possible effects on attendance, a spokesperson said.
Stuart said her school had already begun planning for the truancy rise, considering extending teachers’ hours to help with pick ups and co-ordinating vehicles to use.
She wanted to see planning and financial support from the Government in response, saying many schools lacked the staff and resources to help students.
“There’s not a principal I know who’s not going to try and get children into school, but sometimes we might not be able to do that.”
“The message is very clearly kids have to be at school and that they’re not to stay home, and I can understand that’s the messaging, but that’s just not going to be the reality for some people.”
Stuart said rising fuel costs impacted not only the child’s ability to get to school, but also whether they come to school fed and warm ‒ with schools shouldering more costs as a result.
School camp trips, outdoor education and other extracurricular activities by schools involving transport also faced increased costs, she said.
Schools to stay open, kids kept in classrooms
Associate Education Minister David Seymour said after working so hard to get students back into the classroom, it could not afford to push education down the priority list again “at the slightest perceived disruption”.
”Our government is crystal clear. Education is the last thing we would sacrifice.“
Seymour said it would revisit its approach if there were severe fuel disruptions. “Currently, we aren’t even close.”
Despite the challenges people are facing, school attendance has remained steady, he said.
“If you take the disadvantaged schools, previously known as low decile, attendance at those schools has been as good or better than the same time last year.”
Education Minister Erica Stanford announced last week it would be a priority to keep children in classrooms to prevent the attendance disruptions seen after pandemic-era online learning.
She directed the Ministry of Education to contact all schools to create a clear understanding of challenges and said she would have more to say on the response to education once discussions have concluded.
Attendance ‘a concern and a worry’
NZ Rural Schools Leadership Association president Andrew King expected the reality to set in next term as fuel prices continued to stay high, with isolated, low decile schools to be the most impacted.
The association was collecting data from schools on truancy, and some rural schools were beginning to report attendance issues as a result of the fuel prices, he said.
Attendance was a concern and a worry, but it was not a problem in the majority of schools yet, he said.
He expected to see a rise in parents who had to drive long distances to the closest bus stop opting to keep their children at home.
It could become more common for parents to keep their child at home for a day to save them from driving their child twice if they had after-school activities, he said.
King was supportive of keeping children at school, reflecting on the online learning era during the pandemic which was difficult to manage.
“It’s not the solution … I think we’ve got to do everything we can to get them to school.”