Circular on truancy

Press, 10 October 1977, Page 7

Circular on truancy

Circulars are being sent to New Zealand school principals by the Department of Education reminding teachers “why truancy requires their serious and continued attention.” Reports from schools, the police, and social workers suggested that truancy had increased over recent years until it was now a serious; social problem in some dis- 1 tricts, and of concern to many) teachers and parents, said the circular, which is signed by I the Director-General of Edu-' cation (Mr W. L. Renwick).j The circular was being sent, to all primary-school and sec-i ondary-school principles toj show what was known of the incidence of truancy. It commended procedures' and policies that schools were successfully using to reduce truancy, and set out steps the department was taking with other agencies “in a continu-: ing action against truancy.” i This term the departmenthas begun a national truancy! survey that will last for a; year. Each school is taking; part for only a short time,} perhaps half a day. They are. required to supply informa-1 tion about the number of un-l acceptable absences and the} reasons given for them. The survey will provide accurate information about thei present level of absenteeism,! the incidence of truancy, and information on why pupils! truant. A national survey in 1966' showed that on a selected! Monday 0.45 per cent of I primary-school pupils and! 0.49 per cent of secondary-! school pupils were away from school without an acceptable; explanation. A survey by the depart- 1 , ment of Education in Christchurch last year covered 27 j secondary schools representing 21.000 pupils. It showed a truancv rate on a selected Wednesday of 0.75 per cent in the morning and 0.85 per

>icent in the afternoon. On a Friday, truancy rates were . 0.89 per cent in the morning and 1.05 per cent in the after--s;noon. The Canterbury Education • I Board has no truancy figures for its primary and inter- • mediate schools, but the > assistant general manager > (Mr J. F. Dysart) said that rey ports by visiting teachers in’jdicated that truancy did not ■.seem to be as great as in the; 'I North Island. ! . A survey in the Auckland ' i metropolitan area last year •.showed truancy rates in pri- • marv schools of 0.83 per cent -i on a selected Monday, and 2.2 [per cent on the Friday of the • I same week. Similar ratios “were found in Auckland secondary schools, where 1.2 per >icent of pupils played truant : on a selected Wednesday and : 1.8 per cent on the Friday of ! the same week. > In releasing the circular, ■ithe Assistant Director-Gen-leral of Education (Mr P. W : Boag) said that the most ’■'likely way to reduce truancy if was a school programme “so !> stimulating and interesting ■ i that children would not want - to stay away.” ■ “This ideal situation can be achieved only by positive ''efforts from everyone in the community who is involved — parents, teachers, and ! j children,” he said. ■I “There are many pupils 1 who stay away from school : because there are other, more . exciting, extra-mural activ'■ities to draw them away, ! but changing the curriculum alone would not solve the problem.” It would not do much for ,jthe child with emotional i problems who could not fit I . i into the school environment! . and who often went to great i •} lengths to stay away from! .! school. j “There is the child who is} j kept at home by a parent to} t mind a younger child while; ■ the parent works. There is I

I the socially maladjusted child, the child who always finds a way to break the rules, the child with above average abiltiy, or the child who is a slow learner whose learning problems are masked by behavioural problems.” Schools are expected to maintain accurate attendance registers showing morning and afternoon attendance of all students, and to take “active measures” when pupils are away from school for no adequate reason, it says.

They are also expected to take all possible steps to establish and maintain links with parents. “It is important as a first step to provide a programme of education which will prove attractive to as many children as possible.” The circular tells principals that schools are expected to provide a teaching programme reasonably matched to each pupil’s interests and abilities, including those students from cultural minority groups. It is recognised that attendance checking procedures could be timeconsuming, and wherever possible ancillary staff should be used to carry out much of the work, the circular says.

“For any programme to be successful, the full participaton and co-operation of all the staff, including parttime and relieving teachers is essential. “In some cases, careful monitoring of attendance and the thorough checking and following-up of absences by the school staff with a child and his parents will be all that is needed. “However, the services of outside agencies will be necessary to assist some [pupils who are serious tru:ants.”