New Zealand's own history shows that the extended school closures due to Covid-19 won't have a lasting impact on students' learning in the long term, the Education Minister assured students and parents today.
Only 20,000 students, roughly two per cent, have gone back in to the classroom as only those unable to be kept home have been able to return.
Drawing comparisons to what happened for schools after the Christchurch earthquakes, Chris Hipkins told TVNZ1's Breakfast today the pandemic won't have a "lasting impact" on students.
"We know after the Christchurch earthquakes, for example, schools were closed for some time and those kids did catch up."
Mr Hipkins says students will be able to catch up, as in fact after the earthquakes older students did better in their NCEA exams than the previous year.
"It's very easy for young people who are trying to learn from home to feel overwhelmed by it all. Be kind to yourselves and be reasonable in your expectations," he says.
When questioned about issues with providing technology to students during the lockdown, Mr Hipkins says there have been issues with sourcing them from overseas.
"One of the biggest challenges we’ve had with digital devices is actually getting them into the country and getting them ready to go."
So far, over 5000 laptops have been given to schools for them to pass on to students with another 13,500 being sourced directly from the schools themselves.
Mr Hipkins says while the Government is "sending more out every day", it isn't simply about "just grabbing one off the shelf" as each laptop is needing to be set up to ensure students are kept safe.
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