The Government's announcement to crackdown on school attendance rates and teacher only days has created a united front between parents and teachers who believe the new strategy is "unfair". Plans to crack down on absences could lead to possible prosecution for parents and an end to teacher-only days during term time has only caused anger.
David Seymour, Associate Education Minister, explained the strict action on truancy and teacher-only days during a press conference yesterday.
The crux of it is, if a child is absent for 15 days or not reaching the regular attendance rate - more than 90% of the term - parents could be prosecuted.
Seymour added that they are introducing the ‘Stepped Attendance Response’ abbreviated to “STAR system” to track absent children and hold them and their parents accountable for their truancy.
Under the STAR guide, If a student is absent for five days, the school will contact their parents to find out why and “set expectations” for attendance. After 10 days, senior leadership would be involved to understand why the child has been absent, identify any barriers, and create a plan moving forward.
After 15 days the issue would be escalated to the Ministry of Education and parents could be prosecuted.
Seymour said he visited many schools around the country to see their concerns with attendance issues.
“There are cases that I’ve had shared with me where the parents could act, but are basically just giving the middle finger to the attendance service and to the school, and they actually need some consequences.”
Each school will be expected to develop its own STAR system by the beginning of 2026.
As for teacher-only days, the government claims that removing teacher-only days from term time will “improve education” - Is it a shock majority of teachers don’t believe the same?
Seymour added that if schools don’t comply with the new strategy as of 2026, they will face consequences.
"Under existing regulations, and terms in the union contracts, teacher-only days are only legally allowed to be held out of term time, unless authorised by the Minister of Education," he said.
Schools will have to play their part in setting a good example.
Many teachers and parents are concerned with the crackdown, with some calling it “unfair”.
“This happens every cycle teachers have to come out defending themselves and their profession. They are growing and teaching the nation's children," one Kiwi wrote on Reddit. "Demonising teachers because of their work schedule is unfair.”
A second believes the news shows a lack of understanding of how teacher-only days work and operate, claiming that the change will only be more difficult for both teachers and parents.
Another response suggested that the teacher-only dates should be “laid out at the start of the year, like term dates, so everyone can manage their work commitments a bit better.”
“Mostly [I’d] just like them to be set for the year so we know when they are and we manage them,” another agreed in a thread on X.
Some also made a point of needing breaks for some students, and seeing the benefit in tacking a teacher's only day onto an extended weekend or around public holidays.
What do you reckon? Could the strategies be beneficial or is it a cause for concern trying to fit the whole of the country's education system and families into one mould?
