The Education Review Office has found the system for addressing school absence is failing, with chronic absence doubling in the last decade.  

In Term 2 this year, one in ten students was chronically absent, with more than 80 thousand missing more than three weeks of the term.  

Since 2015, chronic absence has doubled in secondary schools and almost tripled in primary schools.  

Tupuranga Attendance Service Practice Lead Adam Duchac told Ryan Bridge they're underfunded and under-resourced.  

He says they only have 7.4 full-time equivalent staff covering 250 schools, and a simple fix would be more funding, which the report recommends. 

LISTEN ABOVE