'A lot of pressure on young people'

There is a "concerning" gap for Pacific and Māori children who are among tens of thousands of chronically absent students found in a damning report.

The Education Review Office (ERO) has released its Left behind: How do we get our chronically absent students back to school? report. It found that chronic school absence had doubled from 2015 to 2023, up 10 per cent.

ERO also found that over 80,000 students missed more than three weeks of school in Term 2 this year, and 17 per cent of Pacific and 18 per cent of Māori students were chronically absent compared to 8 per cent New Zealand European and 6 per cent Asian.

The report revealed that the gap in chronic absence rates between NZ European students and Māori and Pacific students increased from pre-Covid-19 levels, where Pacific students' chronic absence rose from 7 per cent in 2019 to 9 per cent in 2024.

Speaking to William Terite on Pacific Mornings, President of the NZ Post Primary Teachers' Association Te Wehengarua (PPTA), Chris Abercrombie, said mental health was a key factor.

Abercrombie said times had gotten tougher economically with more young people working to support families in rent and groceries.

"Not just the mental health of the students, but also mental and physical health issues within the home," Abercrombie said.

"Often children or young people are becoming carers for their elderly family members, disabled family members or members with physical health issues

"So there's a lot of pressure on these young people, on their health and health within the family."

Watch the full interview via 531pi's FB below:

ĒRO found students from schools in low socio-economic communities are six times as likely to be chronically absent from school (18 per cent) than students in high socio-economic communities (3 per cent).

Four per cent of chronically absent students also had a recent history of offending, compared to less than 1 per cent of all students, and just over one in 10 (12 per cent) of chronically absent students live in social housing, compared to 3 per cent of all students.

The report made several recommendations to government agencies like the Ministry of Education, schools, parents, and whānau to reduce chronic absence through "end-to-end effective system and support".

Abercrombie also believed the solution required a holistic approach where all hands were on deck.

"It's not just a school solution, government solution, attendance service solution, it's all parts," he said.

"All parts working together to improve these outcomes - everyone working together to improve these outcomes.

"To be frank, our students, our communities and our nation deserve it."