Covid 19: School attendances plummet as pupils affected by Omicron surge
Ministry of Education figures show more than 100,000 were learning from home on some days this month, while many others were sick with Covid-19.
The figures were reported to the Education Ministry by about 2200 schools, or 88 per cent of the total number of schools.
Attendance at the schools was about 90 per cent in early February, but was 67 per cent by March 18 and on the worst day, March 11, more than 250,000 children were absent.
In the week of March 7-11, attendance dropped below 50 per cent per day in decile one and two schools and was in the 50s in Bay of Plenty and Waiariki.
Te Akau Ki Papamoa principal Bruce Jepsen said it did not yet feel like the Omicron surge was over in the region.
"We have approximately 700 children. For about the last three weeks we've had somewhere between 190 to 220 children away per day. Also the fluctuations in staff, it started quite small but at the moment out of 33 teaching staff today I had 17 away," he said.
In Tairawhiti and Hawke's Bay, attendance was 56-61 per cent in the week of March 14-18.
Gisborne Principals Association president Andy Hayward said that level of absenteeism was challenging.
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"Within a classroom, you've got 10 kids there one week and then a different set of kids the next week. Our numbers are getting to the point and our staffing is getting to the point where we're putting classes together so the learning will be a little bit disjointed but kids are resilient," he said.
South Island schools worse off
The South Island was now bearing the brunt of the outbreak with 78 per cent of schools reporting cases in the 10 days to Monday morning compared to 58 per cent in the North Island.
Canterbury Primary Principals' Association president Sandy Hastings said they had been preparing for the virus since Christmas and now it had arrived in the region, schools were coping day by day.
"You never know from one day to the next how many people you're going to have turn up at school and that's not just children but staff. And sometimes you don't know how many children are going to turn up until after 9 o'clock and the roll's been taken.
"With staff, you may know by half-past seven in the morning how many staff you're going to have on site. That can be a little bit tricky if you have a spike," she said.
Hastings said in some schools in the region nearly half the children were away, while others were missing about a fifth. Read More…
