Less than half of New Zealand’s students regularly attended class during Term One of the Omicron wave, according to government figures.
The Ministry of Education’s school attendance report for Term One—covering February to April—found 46 percent of students across the country regularly attended school, a 20.4 percentage point drop compared to the same term in 2021 (pdf).
The ministry defines regular attendance as turning up to class 90 percent of the time. The figures represent the worst attendance performance in recent times.
Sean Teddy, the leader of operations and integration in the Ministry of Education, said in an email statement to The Epoch Times that Omicron had resulted in high levels of absences for both students and staff at the beginning of the term. This was followed by a wave of winter illnesses in March….