The number of students stood down from school has jumped significantly in 2021.
New Zealand Principals’ Federation president Perry Rush is linking the rise to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Young people thrive on consistency, on routine and schools have always provided that for them…”
“We've had a significant impact on young people and we're starting to see that dysfunction in their behaviour,” he said.
There were 6842 stand-downs in term two of this year, which is the latest data available, compared to 4125 students being stood down in term two in 2016, according to the Ministry of Education.
A stand-down is a student disciplinary measure a school can decide to use for issues like ongoing misbehaviour, physical and verbal assault or drug and alcohol use.
The student is temporarily removed from the school and there's a limit on how many days a student can be stood down annually.
The number has steadily risen in the years since 2016, except for a decrease last year caused by more time being spent at home during heightened alert levels.
"That seems to be the only framework available to us because we don't have any counselling services at our school, we don't have a social worker in schools," Whangārei Intermediate School principal Hayley Read said.
After the first national lockdown, $50 million was provided for schools to apply for funding for attendance and wellbeing initiatives or extra teacher aide hours.
New Zealand Principals’ Federation president, Perry Rush, said another round of the Urgent Response Fund is required to address the stress and anxiety students are experiencing.
In a statement, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said the Government is watching closely to see if any extra support is needed due to the 2021 lockdowns, adding that some parts of the country are being affected more than others.
Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti, who is responsible for overseeing the country's school attendance rates, said the increase in standdowns was concerning but that the Government's "on to it."
"We're very aware that it's been a very stressful time for students and teachers so we're always in discussions around how we can support young people to attend school," she said.
Tinetti said she plans to make an announcement in this area in the next few months.
National's Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith said providing extra support to schools to improve attendance rates should be a priority.
"We need to get the kids to school, only three out of five are attending regularly and that is absolutely an area where we need, first, to send a clear signal and second, to put extra resources in," he told 1News.
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