Newsroom brought Maori truancy into focus in a report headed Record school attendance masks persistent gap for Māori.
It was a narrow focus. No mention was made – for comparative purposes – of school attendance rates among other ethnic groups which might be culturally disadvantaged in the New Zealand school system – or who might feel culturally “unsafe”.
The report said:
School attendance has hit a 10-year high in term two, the associate education minister says, though rates for Māori have remained below 50 percent.
Regular attendance – those who attend school more than nine half-days out of 10 – reached 64.3 percent. That’s up from 58.4 percent in 2025.
Calling it a 10-year-high isn’t quite true: that excludes the early Covid uptick in 2020 and 2021; 2020 notched up higher recorded attendance for the term as pupils attended school remotely.
Compared to term two last year, attendance was up across all education regions, all ethnicities, and all equity index groups.
However, regular attendance rates for Māori remain below 50 percent at 49.1 percent in 2026 – an improvement from 43.7 percent. For those predominantly learning in te reo Māori, the rates were even lower at 42 percent, despite a 4.1 percent increase.
A sub-heading in the article brings readers’ attention to the cultural factor: .
Māori Principals Association chief executive Bruce Jepsen has significant the current Government direction on education reforms and its punitive measures, including prosecuting parents to address attendance.
Parliament has removed Section 127D of the Education and Training Act 2020, which mandated school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti – or in Jepsen’s words, “legally mandated schools to design environments that reflect te ao Māori”.
He complains of the “recolonisation of education” and “assimilation all over again”.
He says that lack of Māori focus could alienate rangatahi in the mainstream system, where 97 percent of ākonga Māori learn. “They’re saying come to school but leave your identity at the gate.”
With many Māori experiencing socioeconomic barriers, that also has an impact on attendance, he says. Fines are acting as a way of penalising poverty.
But poverty isn’t being too harshly punished, by the look of things.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour defends the prosecution of parents as an important “final threat”.
And Newsroom tells us:
So far, one parent has been prosecuted and pleaded guilty, while 35 have been formally notified, 18 have been resolved before being prosecuted, and three are currently at the prosecution stage. A formal warning had been issued by the ministry in a separate case.
The regime is not unduly draconian, therefore.
But let’s return to Jepsen’s cultural safety argument.
Affirming students’ language and identity was key to keeping them at school, but has been devalued in current reforms.
The problem with that arises when questions are asked about how the affirmation of students’ language and identity affect – let’s say – Asian students.
According to Google, Asian students in New Zealand have the highest regular attendance rates and lowest chronic absenteeism or unjustified absence (truancy) rates compared to other major ethnic groups.
Regular attendance – those who attend school more than nine half-days out of 10 – reached 64.3 percent. That’s up from 58.4 percent in 2025.
Calling it a 10-year-high isn’t quite true: that excludes the early Covid uptick in 2020 and 2021; 2020 notched up higher recorded attendance for the term as pupils attended school remotely.
Compared to term two last year, attendance was up across all education regions, all ethnicities, and all equity index groups.
However, regular attendance rates for Māori remain below 50 percent at 49.1 percent in 2026 – an improvement from 43.7 percent. For those predominantly learning in te reo Māori, the rates were even lower at 42 percent, despite a 4.1 percent increase.
A sub-heading in the article brings readers’ attention to the cultural factor: .
Cultural safety missing from attendance focus
Māori Principals Association chief executive Bruce Jepsen has significant the current Government direction on education reforms and its punitive measures, including prosecuting parents to address attendance.
Parliament has removed Section 127D of the Education and Training Act 2020, which mandated school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti – or in Jepsen’s words, “legally mandated schools to design environments that reflect te ao Māori”.
He complains of the “recolonisation of education” and “assimilation all over again”.
He says that lack of Māori focus could alienate rangatahi in the mainstream system, where 97 percent of ākonga Māori learn. “They’re saying come to school but leave your identity at the gate.”
With many Māori experiencing socioeconomic barriers, that also has an impact on attendance, he says. Fines are acting as a way of penalising poverty.
But poverty isn’t being too harshly punished, by the look of things.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour defends the prosecution of parents as an important “final threat”.
And Newsroom tells us:
So far, one parent has been prosecuted and pleaded guilty, while 35 have been formally notified, 18 have been resolved before being prosecuted, and three are currently at the prosecution stage. A formal warning had been issued by the ministry in a separate case.
The regime is not unduly draconian, therefore.
But let’s return to Jepsen’s cultural safety argument.
Affirming students’ language and identity was key to keeping them at school, but has been devalued in current reforms.
The problem with that arises when questions are asked about how the affirmation of students’ language and identity affect – let’s say – Asian students.
According to Google, Asian students in New Zealand have the highest regular attendance rates and lowest chronic absenteeism or unjustified absence (truancy) rates compared to other major ethnic groups.
Attendance and Absence Data
- Regular Attendance: In recent Ministry of Education data (such as Term 1 2025 and 2026 reports), regular attendance for Asian students reached approximately 74% to 77%, which is higher than European/Pākehā (around 69%–72%), Pacific students (55%–58%), and Māori students (51%–54%).
- Chronic Absence: Education Review Office (ERO) and ministry figures show that only about 6% of Asian students experience chronic absence (missing more than 30% of school time), compared to higher rates for Pākehā, Māori, and Pacific students.
- Unjustified Absences: Unjustified or intermittent absence (truancy) rates for Asian students historically hover at lower percentages (around 1.8% of term time), remaining lower than or equal to other groups.
The impact of socioeconomic factors and how these intersect with ethnicity should be examined, too.
But in the upshot, the Asian and MELAA grouping (Middle Eastern/Latin American/African) statistics should have us wondering about how “cultural safety” and Treaty-based policies are a drag on school attendance rates.
That view is reinforced by the figures which show school attendance rates for students predominantly learning in te reo Maori are just 42 per cent.
How much cultural danger do they face?
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