ACT announces truancy policy for schools

Photo: ODT filesThe ACT Party has launched a truancy policy aimed at resolving what it calls a "crisis". In a statement today, ACT education spokesperson Chris Baillie said "In term 2 of this year, 60 percent of students did not attend regularly". A recent Ministry of Education attendance report showed the number going to school regularly was 39.9 percent. Baillie said the rate was "shocking" and that "New Zealand is not a sustainable society". "It is not passing enough knowledge from one generation to the next to maintain first world status."