The latest school attendance data is disastrous

After sitting on the data for two months, the Minister has finally released attendance data for Term 3 of 2022. Here’s the key points:

• Only 46% of students attending regularly, compared to 60% in 2019
• 13% of students are attending less than 70% of the time, compared to 7% in 2019
• Only 33% of Maori And Pacific students attending regularly, and 22% are attending fewer than 70% of the time
• Regular attendance for Decile 1 schools is just 30%

So one in eight students are chronically absent from school, missing at least 12 weeks a year.