School attendance in Otago and Southland appears to be making major improvements all the time, after a major dip in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ministry of Education data showed nationwide school attendance hit a record low in term 2 last year — the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak — when only 40% of pupils regularly attended school.
In term 4 last year, the number rose to 50.6%.
While that was an improvement on the preceding terms, it remained lower than the same time in 2021 when 65% of pupils regularly went to school.
Absenteeism continued to be driven by the high prevalence of Covid-19 in the community and the advisory that anyone who was a close contact or felt unwell should stay home.
In term 4, Tai Tokerau (Northland) had the lowest regular attendance rate at 38.9%, while Otago and Southland had the highest at 56.6%.
Otago Secondary Principals’ Association president and South Otago High School principal Mike Wright said Otago and Southland schools had the highest rates of attendance in the country because schools and the media had generally raised awareness of the importance of attending school.
"I think that is starting to have an impact on student attendance.
"Also, the support that’s being provided by the Ministry of Education in terms of providing attendance officers is helping.
"And certainly, the reducing effects of Covid, whilst it’s still present, whānau are supporting students to remain connected with education and I think that’s something that’s happening as well.
"Anecdotally, I do wonder whether we have been hit less hard by Covid-19 than other regions, but that would just be speculation."
Based on the support and funding injected into the education system in the wake of Covid-19, he believed attendance rates would only increase from this point onwards.
"I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet.
"I can see we’re going to have some hiccups because Covid hasn’t disappeared and we still have isolation periods.
"But I think one of the things that schools are doing is encouraging students to work when they are able to, to try to keep up with their studies. That helps keep students engaged."
The ministry said regular attendance was defined as attending greater than 90% of class time or missing no more than one day each fortnight.
In February, Education Minister Jan Tinetti announced a $74 million package to increase resources for attendance services and fund 82 new attendance officers to work with at-risk pupils, their parents and schools.
Last year, the ministry launched a strategy with 13 priorities to increase attendance and engagement.
By 2026, the ministry wants to increase the number of children attending classes regularly to 75%.
