- Hon David Seymour
The threat of prosecution has been effective at getting students re-enrolled at school, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says.
34 cases have been formally notified to the Ministry of Education's Prosecutions Unit. 17 cases were resolved before a prosecution had to be taken. As of 28 April 2026, one prosecution was underway.
"This is the first time a prosecution related to attendance has gone to court since 2020. As it is before the courts, I will not be commenting on it any further," Mr Seymour says.
"In most of the 17 resolved cases the resolution was parents re-enrolling their children in school.
"It's disappointing to see Labour's education spokesperson already wants to remove the initiative, despite it clearly working to get chronic non-attenders in school."
One attendance-related prosecution is currently before the courts but neither the Ministry nor the Minister will provide comment on that, to protect the privacy of the children involved and avoid prejudicing the legal case. Nor will any details be provided on the cases cited above.
