WHAT'S WRONG WITH 
THE NZ TRUANCY SERVICE: 
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
 
  
 
 
Truancy Officers are often not covered by insurance.
 
Join the NZEI.   You can request a membership form by email and one will be posted to you: 
membership@nzei.org.nz
 
If you use your own car for truancy work, be sure to check that your insurance will cover work-related driving (you will have to pay extra for this, so get your DTS to cover it).
 
The New Zealand Educational Institute: http://www.nzei.org.nz/get/52
A number of Truancy Officers are now members of the NZEI. Why? Because they provide essential services such as legal advice and pay negotiation. From the NZEI web site:
     With more than 36,000 members, NZEI Te Riu Roa has the collective strength to organise for improved pay and conditions. NZEI advocates are skilled and experienced negotiators. Members are involved and kept informed at every stage of their employment contract negotiations. 
     Membership of NZEI Te Riu Roa entitles you to: 
Industrial and legal advice; contract negotiation and enforcement; advocacy and counselling support on employment and personal issues; advice on training and qualifications; access to information, research and resources.
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
There is no central database to keep track of students  
           who leave school (and who do not re-enrol). 
 
We continue to hear promises and plans for creating a "National Student Database". 
Yes, the Min of Ed is working on it....see the following.... but why is it taking so long?  
 
DTS's, the news media, and politicians (in opposition) should continue to put pressure on the MoE to hasten the process, make known a date for completion - and to be held accountable. 
 
And why is so much money allocated?  $250,000 !  Just to develop software?

Extracted from the Min of Ed web page located at this URL :    

Scoping of  
National Student Database 

2002/03 $0.25M 
2003/04 $0M 
2004/05 $0M 
2005/06 $0M 

Four Year Total (02/03-05/06) $0.25M 
 

 This initiative is to plan and scope the development of a National Student Database. 

The planning work includes deciding the best way for the database to operate, starting work on privacy issues and estimating the costs of development. Funding of the database itself will be considered in the 2003 Budget. 
 

 Public concern about the number of students who are not enrolled in school is high. The current district truancy services rely on schools reporting to them about students who have left their school and appear not to have enrolled in another school. There is concern that this approach misses a significant number of non-enrolled students. The database would provide a means for systematically identifying students currently enrolled at a school and those who are not, so that they can be followed up and assisted back to school or into the education system as appropriate. The database would also provide schools and the Ministry with better information about students who move between schools so problems of transience could be better managed. 
 
 
 
 

 

The Non-Enrolled Truancy Service (N.E.T.S.) is held in a low regard by Truancy Officers. NETS is seen to be inefficient, with an unfair amount of funding for its workers. 
  
The Ministry of Education needs to address this issue by listening to criticisms put forth by Truancy Officers. Are these criticisms valid? Open communication between NETS and and the DTS to air these issues should be established by the MoE by holding regional meetings.  
  
District Truancy Officers should invoice NETS for any work that they do on their behalf. For example, in one DTS, $30 is charged to NETS for each student. Doing the work for the NETS only maintains the inequality and inefficiency. 

How much do NETS workers get paid? What is this compared to Truancy Officers?
  
  
  


 
 
Truancy Officers are under-paid and over-worked.  
  
A survey of all DTS's needs to be done to see the true state of affairs. It is doubtful that the MoE will carry out such a survey since it would be (politically) embarassing. Truancy officers should take the lead here. We know all too well that many hours of unpaid work is done - sometimes double the amount of what is actually paid for. Results of such a survey, with comparisons to other sectors of employment, should be published and made available to the news media and influential politicians. 
  
Truancy Officers should work only for the hours they are paid, and their supervisors should check that this is done. Failure to do all too often leads to stress, burn-out, inefficiency and quitting. The Truancy Service as a whole is negatively affected by officers who continue to work in this manner. 
   
Truancy Officers should be paid a salary so that school holiday periods (when Truancy Officers are generally not at work) are not a time of 'no income'. 
   
A portion of each school holiday period should be allocated for data entry. 
  
  

 
 
A national conference is needed. 
  
Regional meetings should now discuss plans towards a national conference of truancy officers, preferably in 2003. It is doubtful that the MoE will organise this - without pressure from DTS's.  The aim of such a conference would be to find solutions to common problems within the Truancy Service. 
  
  
  

 
 
  
Truancy Officers need a 'Code of Ethics'. 
 
The MoE should take the initiative here.  
Each DTS should be sent a draft and invited to offer comments. 

Should we have a Code of Ethics similar to the one below?
 
 

Canterbury Youth Workers
CODE OF ETHICS
 

You can expect your Youth Worker to:

Be your advocate.

Be honest and fair.

Respect you, no matter what your background of beliefs

Honour the treaty of Waitangi

Be informed about issues that affect you.

Tell you who can help you, if they can't.

Have appropriate boundaries and not get into 
a sexual relationship with you.
 

 
 
 
  
  
Add your ideas to this page:   
   
E.g. other "Problems and Solutions", or comments (supportive or critical) to the above points.  
  
If you wish your name and DTS to appear with your comment, state this - otherwise your contribution will be published anonymously. This web site is for truancy officers. If you are not a NZ truancy officer and wish to make a contribution to this page, please identify your background / area of expertise. 

Email your contribution to: truancynz@email.com  
 
 
 
 

This site was created on 3 November 2002.
New information will be added ~ Remember to bookmark this site. 
  
  
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