Masking The True Picture of Christchurch's Truancy Story: Should Schools Be Forced To Release Attendance Data?

Have your say in the NZR poll. What value will the coalition government’s policy of releasing national data have on student attendance rates, when schools can hide their own data?

An old-age pensioner in Riccarton is worried by the sight of large numbers of truant students visiting Westfield Mall during the school day, counting 25 school-age children on one trip to Pak n’ Save on Wednesday and estimating they saw 12 yesterday.

“It is likely that unmasked data can be provided to you with the school names anonymised.”

“Please note that, when we consider all information for release, we have to consider the greater public interest under the Act, and weigh this up against other interests that favour withholding, including factors such as the continued collection of information and the privacy of children involved.”

Ministry of Education, 2023

These observations came as Associate Education Minister, David Seymour, standing alongside Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, announced the Ministry of Education would be begin releasing daily national attendance data on a weekly basis. This would start in Term 2 this year, and form part of the coalition government’s push to see 80 percent of students attending school 90 percent of the time by 2030.

But how will the release of daily national attendance data drive down Christchurch’s truancy rates, when individual school attendance rates remain beyond the purview of parents and the wider public?

Below is a snippet taken from a Ministry of Education excel document it released in July 2023, containing anonymised attendance data from all 129 schools in the Christchurch metropolitan region. Each school is represented by a random number identifier.