The Government is taking a parent to court over their child's chronic absence from school as part of the truancy crackdown heralded by Associate Education Minister David Seymour.
By Lauren Crimp of RNZ
Seymour last year promised the Government would be tougher on non-attendance using "coercive power", including prosecution.
He said it was not changing rules, but ramping up enforcement.
Seymour has now told RNZ that at least one prosecution was "ongoing" which he said showed he was serious about the crackdown.
"The truth is that a lot of people want to get to school, but if you're a 'won't' rather than a 'can't', then we are going to throw the book at you, because you're not just letting down yourself, you're letting down your child and their future," he said.
The Ministry of Education confirmed the case was before the courts, so it could not comment on that specifically - nor could Seymour.
Ministry data showed the last prosecution was in 2022, and before that, in 2019.
It said parents and caregivers had a legal responsibility to ensure their child attended school, and prosecution was a last resort.
"It is only considered after other support and options have been tried, and where there is clear evidence that parents or caregivers are not meeting their responsibility to make sure their child attends school."
When a parent is referred to the ministry for condoning truancy, staff decide whether to prosecute, and it was then a matter for the courts.
The ministry set up an attendance prosecution unit last year to deal with serious cases.
In the region with the worst truancy rates, one school believes it may have a solution. (Source: 1News)
Parents could be fined up to $300 for a first offence and $3000 for a second or subsequent offence.
The ministry did not prosecute parents of students who were genuinely engaging with the school, or those who were absent because of chronic illness or health conditions associated with a disability.
Data released last week from term one this year showed 68.6% of students attended school regularly, the highest figure for term one since 2020.
But it was still four points below the 2019 pre-Covid figures. Seymour said there would need to be "sustained work" to continue the positive trajectory.
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