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Will Mallard Really Establish a Truancy Database? Donna Awatere Huata Friday 20 Sep 2002 Press Releases - Education
But Mrs Awatere Huata is still sceptical about Trevor Mallard’s commitment
to the proposed database.
“I’ve been fighting for 18 months to have a truancy database set up.
After dozens of questions to the Minister, a number of Official Information
Act requests and several letters, Mr Mallard has finally backed down.
“The Minister’s decision is a victory for children who have slipped
through the cracks and been forgotten by the system. But by planning to
spend only $250,000 on the proposed database, I wonder how seriously Mr
Mallard takes the issue of truancy.
“Do we have to wait for the Minister to be publicly embarrassed before
he makes a real commitment?
“The Minister needs to set a deadline to have the database established.
After all, Mr Mallard promised to set up a database in 1996 as the Opposition
spokesman for education.
“This issue is not going away. I will continue my campaign until the
database comes to fruition because our children deserve it,” Donna Awatere
Huata said.
Truancy Inquiry Will Reveal Mallard
Failing
“Before he became Minister, Mr Mallard promised to decrease truancy by making the Ministry of Education, rather than schools, prosecute parents of long-term truants. “Yet the Ministry of Education departmental forecast report shows Mr Mallard is only funding the Ministry to make “up to five prosecutions” in the next twelve months. “Mr Mallard promised in 1999 and again before the recent election to establish a centralised database to monitor school enrolments and find children who have completely dropped out of the system. “Yet he has not put aside a dollar of funding to achieve this. He has not even requested any advice on how to create such a database during the three years he has been Minister. “There is a close nexus between crime and truancy. Crimes committed by children have jumped by 4,000 in just twenty-four months. The long-term truancy service is hunting for at least 1,000 more children than five years ago. We have completely lost track of more than 500 children since January 2001 – these children are outside the system, and we will not hear from them until they appear in court charged with gruesome crimes. “I have no faith in the State Services Commission to reveal how bad things truly are. I have no faith this inquiry will be anything other than a whitewash. And I have no faith that the Minister intends to take any concrete steps to reduce long-term truancy rates. “Therefore, I am drafting my own private member’s bill which will address truancy in a serious way. Among the measures my bill will take are a provision to increase the currently weak penalties for parents of long-term truants, and a direction to the Ministry of Education to create a database that will help both schools and truancy services. “Mr Mallard has failed to address truancy for three years. This has been a cynical and deliberate decision, based on the knowledge that nobody would cause a great fuss. But in doing so, he is helping the parents of long-term truants to rob their children of a decent start, and he is putting political gain ahead of education,” Mrs Awatere Huata said.
Education Ministry Database Breaks
Down
"In response to a standard parliamentary question asking how many students are expected to be referred to the long-term truancy service next year, Education Minister Trevor Mallard said he was "unable" to make any predictions at all. This comes just a week after he had to correct three answers because his database had a 'mathematical miscalculation'. "Mr Mallard has allowed the truancy monitoring system to degenerate to a point where it is almost impossible for him to extract any useful information at all. "This highlights more than ever the need for a central, comprehensive database that will ensure our children are enrolled in school. "Mr Mallard shuts down media stories by making vague promises that he is working on creating a trial database for some 15-17 year-old students by the end of this year. "That is a blatant lie. There are only a few weeks of the school year left. It would be completely implausible to start a database by tracking students who are in the middle of their exams. Figures show that our youngest kids are more and more at risk of dropping out. How many more twelve-year-olds does Mr Mallard want charged with murder before he lifts a finger? "Not only has Mr Mallard broken his pre-election promise by doing absolutely nothing, he has allowed the current databases to get worse and worse. In October 1999, the database worked well enough for then-Education Minister Nick Smith to accurately predict the number of long-term truants for 2000. But now this tracking system is so run down that Mr Mallard cannot make any accurate predictions at all for the exact same length of time in the future. "We know that long-term truancy is soaring. Referrals to the Non-Enrolment Truancy Service have increased by 1,000 in five years. We also know that more and more primary-school aged kids are completely dropping out of school. "If we are going to make any kind of difference here, we need a database. Firstly, it will ensure we can get every kid into school. And secondly, it will provide us with enough information to make accurate predictions into the future, so we can adjust resources and funding accordingly," Mrs Awatere Huata said.
Parents of Repeat Truants Must
Be Jailed
The Government must copy Britain and jail parents of repeat truants, ACT Education Spokesman MP Donna Awatere Huata said today. Mrs Awatere Huata is drafting a private members’ bill that would do so. For the first time Britain has jailed a woman because she made no effort to keep her children at school. She will be imprisoned for 60 days. In New Zealand, the maximum penalty for parents who don’t send their children to school is a $150 fine. “New Zealand must follow Britain and take a Zero Tolerance approach to truancy. “There is a close nexus between crime and truancy. Crimes committed by children have jumped by 4,000 in just twenty-four months. The long-term truancy service is hunting for at least 1,000 more children than five years ago. We have completely lost track of more than 500 children since January 2001. “Trevor Mallard’s Ministry of Education has not attempted to prosecute a single parent since the election. The Ministry doesn't even have any employees trained how to prepare, research or pursue prosecutions. “The reason we have legislation to prosecute parents of truants is to counter dysfunctional families that sneer at education, and to deter other caregivers from neglecting their young children. “Two things must happen. The Ministry must prosecute, and penalties must increase. “I will be drafting a private members’ bill to replace our pathetic
penalties with the threat of jail for parents who make no effort to send
their young children to school,” Mrs Awatere Huata said.
New Zealand Breaches United Nations
Obligations
Yesterday Mrs Awatere Huata published figures showing the Government has completely lost track of hundreds of children who drop out of one school and don't enrol in another. Primary school drop outs are increasing at an alarming rate. (see Fact Sheet below). "The United Nations Convention of the Child was ratified by New Zealand in the early 1990s. Article 28 states that nations must 'take measures to encourage . . . the reduction of drop-out rates'." New Zealand has taken no measures. "We have absolutely no system to track down the children who have dropped out of one school and failed to enrol in another. As a result, the figures I released yesterday are merely the tip of the iceberg. We have absolutely no idea how many more kids are lost out there. "The twelve year-old facing a murder charge represents one face of long-term truancy: he didn't go to school for two years. How many more kids have to appear in court before this Government wakes up? How many stories do we have to hear about thirteen-year-old prostitutes, or teenagers killing themselves with substance abuse? "It is criminal for the Government to continue doing nothing. "Education Minister Trevor Mallard 'hopes' to start a brief trial of a database monitoring a small group of students over the age of fifteen some time in the future. That's as bad as doing nothing. "Primary schools are reporting higher numbers of kids dropping out completely. The reasons are varied, but the results are always heart-rending. "I wrote to Ministers earlier this week calling on them to urgently introduce a central database to monitor school enrolments. I have not yet received a reply. "Social Services Minister Steve Maharey plans to attend this year's United Nations Special Session on Children. "It would be immoral for him to attend while his Government ignores this problem. "It is past the time for talk and promises. For the sake of New Zealand's kids, we need to create this database now," Donna Awatere Huata said.
Education Ministry Considers
Drop Outs a 'Success'
Mrs Awatere Huata is stepping up her call for a central database to be created to monitor enrolments and identify long term truants. In the past week, Mrs Awatere Huata has revealed New Zealand is breaching its United Nations obligations by not enforcing legislation for compulsory schooling. She has published figures showing the Government has completely lost track of hundreds of children who have dropped out of school, and is searching for hundreds more children aged under nine. (See attached Fact Sheet) "Today, answers to my Parliamentary Questions reveal the Government considers it has reached a 'successful outcome' if it helps a child gain an 'exemption' from attending school. In other words, the Ministry believes it has done its job well if children are given a pat on the back for truancy and allowed to stay outside of the system. "Last year NETS 'facilitated' 234 exemptions. In just the first two terms of this year, 120 kids were helped to drop out completely. At that rate, at least another 240 children will be completely outside the system by the year's end. "In almost every case, an exemption is simply the Government's way of condoning truancy. "It is a message to every New Zealand child that it's okay to drop out: the Education Ministry will spend thousands of dollars hunting you down, and even give you a certificate guaranteeing you never have to return to school in your life. "Granting exemptions is seen as an easy solution. In fact, it's no solution at all. Long-term truancy has obvious links to child prostitution, crime and delinquency. "A central records database is necessary. But that's not all. We need an urgent inquiry into how this Government handles long term truants. "Exemptions should not be granted except in the most drastic of circumstances. As Mr Mallard himself said on February 26, 1997: By agreeing to exemptions the Government is basically relieving itself of any responsibility for these young people. "Urgent action is needed. It is too late for hundreds of children. But there are hundreds more, primary school-aged, who we can still help," Mrs Awatere Huata said.
Six Month Crime Spree Highlights
Failed Policies
“Police report that the ten boys and one girl aged between 11 and 17 have spent the past six months committing a crime a day each. They have broken into hundreds of cars and dozens of houses, stealing to pay for drugs and food. All of them come from families with a history of criminal activities. None of them goes to school. “These eleven children are walking examples of the Labour Government’s education and youth crime policies. “How can eleven kids get away with not attending school for so long? Were they given ‘exemptions’, like so many difficult children since Trevor Mallard became Minister? Or have they simply dropped completely out of the system? We must implement a central register of enrolled students so we know when children first drop out of school, and don’t find out six months later when they’ve cost society so much. “We need to dump the Labour ideology that choice in education is bad, and introduce independent schools that provide for children from circumstances like these. I refuse to believe that some children cannot be educated, but I strongly believe that having such a narrow range of educational opportunities for kids means that many who could achieve in other environments will simply slip through the cracks or be awarded ‘exemptions’ to stay at home with the Government’s blessing. “The Government’s youth crime strategy is a sick joke. Most kids who are caught for serious offences get away with a pointless family group conference. The police officers who caught them know that they will re-offend, but there’s nothing they can do about it. “Hamilton is not alone. The Education Minister and his fellow politicians must realise that today’s truants and delinquents will tomorrow fill our prisons and live off the taxpayer. We must act now if we want to save heartache in the future,” Mrs Awatere Huata said.
Drop-out Tracking System Causes
Minister to Recant
"Mr Mallard was forced to admit that a 'mathematical miscalculation' in the database that records statistics on drop outs had caused him to answer a question incorrectly. "All I wanted to know was the childrens' ages. Yesterday, Mr Mallard said that 33 children who were given exemptions from school were aged 14 or under. That would be illegal: exemptions are only allowed to be granted to 15 year olds. "Today, we had a complete turn-around from Mr Mallard. The database had wrongly classified the 33 children, he claimed. Today's story is that no children aged 14 or under have been granted exemptions. "The Ministry's tracking systems are obviously in a total mess. This Government is handing out exemptions from school like they are lollies, then not even bothering to properly record the details of these at-risk kids. Ministry approvals for children to drop out of school early have risen almost one thousand per cent since 1993 "This highlights the urgent need for a proper, central database that monitors all enrolments. The piecemeal system we have can't handle the most simple requests. "I have written to Ministers calling on this Government to implement the database. Until we have one, we have absolutely no way of knowing how many children have completely dropped out of the system. "What we do know is that in the past two years, 342 children as young as six or seven have dropped out of school, failed to enrol in another, and never been found. That figure is likely to be conservative, because many drop-outs are not even referred to the Truancy Service so nobody searches for them. "The Government cannot continue to remain silent while we have twelve
year olds on the streets that haven't been to school in two years. If Mr
Mallard opposes this good idea, then he should come out and explain why.
Otherwise, he must implement a database urgently," Mrs Awatere Huata said.
Children Commit Crime When They
Aren't in School
"Let's be absolutely clear about this: our kids are getting themselves into more and more serious trouble because we are allowing them to completely drop out of school." Figures released today show that crimes committed by children have jumped by 4,000 in just twenty-four months. "It is simple for a child as young as seven to drop out of one school and never enrol in another. The next time we'll see that kid is in court. "The long-term truancy service is hunting for 1,000 more children than five years ago. We have completely lost track of 342 children since January last year. "Despite his promises in Opposition, Education Minister Trevor Mallard hasn't even attempted to introduce a central database to monitor enrolments. Answers to my parliamentary questions show he hasn't even requested any advice on the subject. "Today's figures are the very beginning. Today's truants will continue to clog the court and welfare systems. One huge part of the solution is to implement a central database as soon as possible," Mrs Awatere Huata said.
Truancy Service Doesn't Get An
Extra Cent
"The service had to hunt for 1,000 more children last year than it did in 1997, but hasn't received a single extra cent. The $1.3m contract restricts NETS to finding a certain number of children each year. "It is no wonder that hundreds of children aren't being found. This under-resourced, over-stretched service hasn't got a hope. "We're not talking about kids who 'wag' a couple of days a year. These are children who have dropped out of one school and failed to enrol in another. Some of them go years and years without attending a day of school. "Of great concern is the rise of primary-school aged referrals. "Answers to parliamentary questions show that in 1997, NETS hunted for less than 700 children under the age of nine. By last year, that number had jumped to more than 900. "Education Minister MP Trevor Mallard campaigned on reducing long-term truancy, yet his Government has done nothing. "We need a central database that monitors all enrolments. Without one, these figures are just the tip of the iceberg: we have no way of knowing just how many children aren't part of the system. "I have written to Mr Mallard, calling on him to implement the database that he promised to deliver when in Opposition. "Mr Mallard's reported comment that he 'hoped to start a trial of a national index' for children aged between 15 and 17 at some vague point in the future is irresponsible. "We need a full database, urgently. Otherwise, we will see more and more of our youngest children on the streets and in court. Long-term truancy has obvious links to child prostitution, crime and delinquency. "This issue is not going away - I will continue this campaign until Mr Mallard introduces the central database that our children desperately need.
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