27 Nov 2022

ACT launches truancy policy for schools

12:00 pm on 27 November 2022

Photo: 123rf

The ACT Party has launched a truancy policy aimed at resolving what it calls a "crisis".

In a statement, ACT education spokesperson Chris Baillie said "In term 2 of this year, 60 percent of students did not attend regularly".

A recent Ministry of Education attendance report showed the number going to school regularly was 39.9 percent.

Baillie said the rate was "shocking" and that "New Zealand is not a sustainable society".

"It is not passing enough knowledge from one generation to the next to maintain first world status."

The party proposed five ideas to get back into classrooms:

  • Daily national attendance reporting - ACT would require every school to fill out an electronic attendance register accessible by the Ministry of Education
  • Empowering schools to deal with truancy - Schools should be empowered to deal with poor attendance through direct, cashed-up funding, ACT said
  • Traffic light system - This would set out clear expectations for the responsibilities of everyone relating to unjustified absences
  • An infringement notice regime for parents - ACT would introduce an infringement notice regime for truancy
  • Accountability for schools through mandatory reporting - Schools would be required to report their attendance daily and failing to do so would risk losing funding