Increasing Child Poverty Leading Cause Of Underachievement

10 December 2012
Immediate Release

Increasing Child Poverty Leading Cause Of Student Underachievement in NZ

Poverty is the leading cause of educational underachievement and it’s vital that the Government addresses poverty if it wants to lift student achievement.

NZEI National President Ian Leckie says he’s not surprised that today’s Children’s Social Health Monitor report shows that little progress has been made in reversing the growing number of children living in poverty.

“Teachers already know that. They see the effects of poverty everyday in our schools – things like children not attending because of preventable illnesses, children arriving without adequate clothing, not having had breakfast or adequate lunches. The list goes on.

“Sadly, this is the reality of what teachers are dealing with every day and it’s extraordinary that the Government refuses to acknowledge the obvious link between student underachievement and poverty.”

Education is an important key to providing opportunities but schools cannot be the antidote to Government policy failures which leave so many children too stressed, cold and hungry to learn.

“At least one in five children now live in poverty. If the Government was serious about improving student achievement it would start to focus on ensuring that all families had a decent living wage, that houses were warm and dry and that children had access to primary medical care before illnesses became chronic.”

“Instead of blaming teachers for student underachievement, the Government needs to be honest and reflect on its own performance.

“It is shameful and unnecessary that New Zealand has so many children living in poverty and that we now have one of the fastest growing rates of inequity in the OECD.”

ENDS

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