School attendance targets 'unrealistic'
By David Hill, local democracy reporter
A North Canterbury principal says school attendance targets are unrealistic in the present environment.
With a general election looming, politicians have been promising to fix declining school attendance rates.
But Rangiora High School principal Bruce Kearney said the biggest barriers to school attendance targets were the Ministry of Education’s "inability" to negotiate a pay settlement with teachers and the mandatory seven-day Covid-19 stand down.
The Ministry of Education’s target is for all students to achieve 90% regular attendance at school.
That equated to just one day absent a fortnight, or six or seven days in a school term.
"Yes, non-attendance is a problem, but it is not because students aren’t attending school, it is because we are coming out of
Covid where hardly anybody in any industry is hitting 90% attendance," he said.
"It is a little rich for the Minister of Education to write letters to school principals asking them to get on board with attendance when the biggest factor impacting attendance at the moment is the Government’s inability to sign a contract with teachers."
While there was a lot of talk about non-attendance, Kearney said there was a lack of funding to enable schools to tackle the issue.
Rangiora High School recently employed an attendance officer from school funds to reach out to students in the 70-80% attendance category.
Rangiora New Life School principal Stephen Walters said the Ministry of Education should be putting more emphasis on student achievement rather than looking at attendance on its own.
"We looked at our data and attendance in term one was higher than last year, but it is still behind 2019.
"But the interesting thing is even though attendance is lagging, academic performance has been sustained and even improved slightly in some areas."
He said the Covid experience had led to a change in attituded towards wellbeing.
"I think Covid has taught us, if you are unwell stay home until you are well."
Walters said his school moved to "a hybrid learning style" 10 years ago, embracing online learning alongside learning in the classroom.
It allowed students to continue learning and engage with teachers when absent from school.
The results indicated it was working, he said.
Oxford Area School principal Mike Hart said attendance improved significantly in term one this year at 61.9%, compared to 43.7% for term one last year.
"Pre Covid-19 attendance in term one 2019 was 71.7% regular attendance, so we still have improvements to make, but the data so far is trending in the right direction."
Comment has been sought from the Ministry of Education and Education Minister Jan Tinetti's office.
Poll: Should drivers retake the theory test every 10 years?
Drivers get where they need to go, but sometimes it seems that we are all abiding by different road rules (for example, the varying ways drivers indicate around a roundabout).
Do you think drivers should be required to take a quick driving theory test every 10 years?
Vote in the poll and share any road rules that you've seen bent! 😱
-
48.1% Yes
-
50% No
-
1.9% Other - I'll share below
Here's Thursday's thinker!
I am lighter than air, but a hundred people cannot lift me. What am I?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Hero
“I was born and raised in war. To be honest, those are not good memories.
I really like Iran, and I really miss it, but I couldn’t be myself there. Even though my family didn’t like my decision, I left Iran. I promised myself that I would do whatever I can for all communities, especially for the kids, so they do not have the same experience I had.
I studied software engineering in Iran and left in 2006. I went to Malaysia and stayed in Kuala Lumpur for seven years. I was admitted to Lincoln University to do my PhD here, but unfortunately, I couldn’t afford the expenses. I requested a scholarship, but they told me I had to be there for six months first. So, I stayed in Malaysia and did my PhD in network security. In December 2013, I came to New Zealand with a work visa.
It took me a while to connect with the Iranian community here. I volunteered with the Multicultural Council, SPCA, and community patrol, and I established the Christchurch Iranian Society in 2017. Before that, I started working on Radio Toranj, the only Farsi-language radio show in New Zealand.
One of the reasons I started organizing cultural events was to showcase Iranian culture. I wanted to show people that we have delicious food, colorful dresses, traditional customs, and our own instruments. My hope was to show people that we are not what you see in the media.
I am working to involve all the communities that celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in the Nowruz festival in March 2025. We want to share this celebration not only with our community but with the public as well. It’s better when it’s shared.
I remember the first time someone from Dunedin called me and asked, Hero, can you help? Something happened, and they keep declining Iranian visa applications. When I heard that, I felt insulted. We are still human, so how can they do that?
Through this journey, I’ve learned a lot. Every single day, people with different cases call me, and I try to share my knowledge and guide them as much as I can.
I have received several awards, including the Christchurch Civic Award and an Award of Recognition for my contributions to the community during the pandemic. In 2021, I established Canterbury Kia Ora Academy, a charitable trust. Through this charity, I can help other communities as well, not just the Iranian community.”
- Hero
View more stories, or nominate someone: @humansofchch
www.humansofchch.org......
Loading…
