Getting tough on truancy

Education Minister Anne Tolley has outlined Government plans to help schools crack down on truancy.


"The results of the Ministry of Education's 2009 truancy survey, released today, show that just over 30,000 students are truant from state and state-integrated schools on any given day," said Mrs Tolley.


"These figures are similar to the 2006 survey, when the previous government made various excuses for the high numbers.


"The 2009 figures show that Labour did nothing to address this very serious issue, and tried to hide its failures by cancelling the 2008 truancy survey.


"This Government is determined to get tough on truancy, and we have doubled the amount of funding to tackle the problem. An additional $4 million per year will help schools introduce stronger and more proactive measures to reduce truancy rates."


Initially the funding will go towards:

 

• allowing more schools to use electronic attendance registers, enabling them to quickly identify casual truants before they become regular truants;
• encouraging more schools to implement the Early Notification System, which automatically sends a text message to parents whose children are missing from school without explanation; and
• one-off funding of $1.5 million to reduce the time it takes to get non-enrolled students back into school.

A small amount has also been set aside to help schools prosecute parents of children who are persistently truant.


"Work will continue on our long-term approach, aimed at keeping more children engaged at school, rather than having to get truants back into the system once they have become disengaged," said Mrs Tolley.


"Evidence shows that regular attendance in school is the biggest factor in student achievement. Chronic truancy can lead to negative outcomes later in life such as violence, substance abuse or unemployment."


653 primary and secondary schools responded to the survey. Two-thirds of truants are from secondary school, and Maori and Pasifika students are twice as likely to be truant.


The 2009 truancy survey can be found at: http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/2503/71220