Associate Education Minister Calls for Improved Student Attendance

Associate Education Minister David Seymour has welcomed students back to school with a strong appeal to improve attendance rates compared to last year.

"The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future," says Mr. Seymour.

"Our attendance goal for 2025 is to raise each school Term's attendance rates higher than the same periods in 2024. This progress is essential for reaching the Government's target of 80 per cent of students attending more than 90 per cent of the term by 2030."

In 2024, 61.7 per cent of students attended school regularly in Term 1, 53.2 per cent in Term 2, and 51.3 per cent in Term 3, with Term 4 figures to be finalised soon.

"Schools are now required to record and submit student attendance every day for public reporting. The publication process of attendance data from the new dashboard will be faster and will allow quicker responses to low attendance," Mr. Seymour added.

In the coming weeks, the Ministry of Education will roll out daily attendance data through a new, improved interactive attendance dashboard. This dashboard replaces the current one, which is updated weekly on the Ministry’s Education Counts website.

"With more information about attendance we will improve educational outcomes for New Zealand children. We're making this information publicly available and emphasising the importance of regular school attendance," he explained.

Formerly, schools were required to provide attendance data at the end of each term. The new daily reporting will involve all schools, except a small number of kura that will transition to daily reporting by mid-2025.

"The shift to weekly reporting last year has already provided greater insights. For instance, attendance on Fridays remains particularly problematic, being frequently lower than any other day of the week. I encourage parents to consider the long-term impacts of allowing students to skip Fridays, as this can lead to missed education and hinder the development of good habits for future employment," Mr. Seymour remarked.

"This enhanced data will assist us in understanding attendance patterns and address the reasons behind low attendance. It will also help evaluate the effectiveness of interventions."

"This will not impose extra work on schools, as daily recording of student attendance is already required when the school is open. The Government is now compiling this data and making it readily accessible. To further assist schools in providing accurate data, we have reduced the number of attendance codes that schools should use from 26 to 15."

"We all need to support schools to maintain a strong focus on teaching, helping as many students as possible become regular attenders."

"If the truancy crisis is not addressed, there will be a lasting impact on many individuals who will miss out on education as children, making them less equipped for work and citizenship. That's the severity of this issue."