Pacific attendance rises but nearly 4 in 10 students still miss school regularly - data

Pacific student attendance is showing signs of recovery after earlier declines but the number of young people missing school regularly remains a major concern.

New Ministry of Education figures for Term 1 this year show 58.8 per cent of Pacific students attended school regularly. This means they were present for more than 90 per cent of the term.

That is up from 55.1 per cent last year and 50.1 per cent in 2024, and this points to a gradual improvement after a weaker period, according to the ministry.

But the gap with the rest of the country remains clear. Pacific students are still 10.8 percentage points behind the national average of 68.6 per cent.

Watch David Seymour's full interview below.

That means nearly four in 10 Pacific students are still not attending school regularly.

Deputy Prime Minister Davud Seymour says there are still worrying signs in the data, even with the recent lift.

The Ministry of Education (MoE), or Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga, is the New Zealand government’s lead advisor and agency overseeing the education system. Photo/Supplied/MOE

He said the stats show the country has been moving “in the opposite direction”.

“I know that there's been some trends for Pacific [students] that are going in the opposite direction and going down, and that's not good,” Seymour says.

He made the comments during an interview with William Terite on Pacific Mornings where hewas asked about the latest attendance figures.

While Pacific students have improved in this latest update, the figures show the gap remains wide compared to other communities. Photo/MOE

The new data also shows Pacific students remain behind other groups: Asian students have a regular attendance rate of 77.4 per cent while European/Pākehā students are at 71.5 per cent. Māori students are at 54.3 per cent.

While Pacific students have improved in this latest update, the figures show the gap remains wide compared to other communities.

When asked about ways to improve outcomes, Seymour pointed to the new Sisters United Academy,

The school opened in February this year with 120 students and focuses on Pacific girls. Its model is built around culture, wellbeing, and academic success.

Principal Bonnie Talamaivao says the school aims to better support Pasifika learners.

“I don't want to bag on mainstream, I come from mainstream education,” Talamaivao told Terite. “I think there are pockets of excellence for our Pasifika kids in our mainstream schools, but I think there's a huge gap, and there always has been … it's intergenerational.”

Listen to Bonnie Talamaivao's full interview below.

The latest figures suggest some progress is being made after a difficult period of declining attendance.

But for Pacific families, the reality remains unchanged in many communities: too many students are still missing too much school and the gap with the rest of the country is not closing quickly enough.