Covid 19 coronavirus: conspiracy theories, poverty hurts assistance in Northland

By RNZ

Principals say conspiracy theories about the pandemic and economic turmoil are not helping Northland’s low school attendance.

Figures from the Ministry of Education showed that average daily attendance in the region last week was just over 86 percent.

That was pretty much the same as Auckland even though that city was still rebuilding attendance rates after its level 3 lockdown and Northland hadn’t been locked in for four months. In other parts of the country, the average rate was 91%.

Tai Tokerau Principals Association President Pat Newman said his school was still struggling to get the children back since the first closure.

“By now we would normally have around 400, 410, 420. We have dropped to about 380 and these are children who have not returned from the first Covid [lockdown],” he said.

“There are many reasons for this. Our parents up there, they are economically and socially bad, they are losing jobs and they are losing where they live and everything else, so children are moving all over the north to relatives and vice versa.

“But on top of that, we have a couple of politicians hanging around Te Tai Tokerau who, for their own purposes, are confusing everyone about what reality is and our parents are worried because they hear from them that everything is a big problem. BS and that it’s a plot and everything else and they don’t know who to believe.

“And for me, I don’t have time for that because they are affecting children.”

Newman said his school was telling families that it was safe to return to class and that he was surprised at how long it was taking to return to normal attendance.

The president of Te Akatea, the Maori Directors Association, Myles Ferris, is also a director of Northland.

He said conspiracy theories were a problem, but that the biggest factors keeping children out of school were related to poverty and other social problems.

“Many of our whānau are probably not even worried about Covid, they are more concerned about the potential job loss, the potential challenges with poverty, whether their children have enough kai to bring to school for lunch, a variety of other things. very complex situation in Tai Tokerau and needs some complex solutions. “

He said he was concerned about the long-term negative impact this year would have on children in the region.

“The long-term effect of low attendance levels in Tai Tokerau is clearly evident despite Covid and with it will increase the challenges for schools in the long term,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Auckland, James Cook High School principal Grant McMillan said that between 75 and 77 percent of his students had returned to class this week, compared to attendance two weeks ago.

However, he said some families were not yet ready to send their children to school.

“The main reason they are giving is that they are waiting for level 1 before sending their child back to school because there is still that concern about Covid-19. And that has probably been compounded by recent illnesses in our community, “he said. .

“It will all depend on the confidence you have as families and as parents that your child is safe and that the community is a safe place to be.”

McMillan said the school’s attendance typically ranged from 87 to 97 percent, and other local principals were also missing large numbers of students.

Figures from the Ministry of Education showed that the average daily attendance in Bay of Plenty and Waiariki was also just over 86 percent last week.

In Hawke’s Bay Tairawhiti it was close to 88 percent, while in other regions it ranged from 89 to just over 91 percent.