Transient students fall through cracks in education system

Transient children who are "shunted from school to school" are falling through the cracks of the education system, say Marlborough principals.

Marlborough Principals Association executive member Simon Heath said the issue was a big concern for principals who were faced with cases of children whose education had little or no continuity and "huge gaps".

While some students adjusted well socially and academically to new schools, often constant movement created problems as it took time for teachers to build relationships with students, he said.

"It may produce kids who lose the value of education," Mr Heath said.

"You've got to know kids to reach them and deliver their education. It doesn't happen in three months. The system is not set up for kids to be moving from school to school to school."

In addition, high numbers of transient students wreaked havoc on schools' planning, administration and funding procedures, he said.

However, it was an issue that was almost impossible to address.

"People have a right to be employed and sometimes they have to relocate to do that. If people have to move for employment they have to move."

It was difficult to comment on the extent of the turnover of school rolls in the region because he had no figures available, he said.

"The issues are out there and they have been there for a number of years."

Mayfield principal Bill Chapman said transient children were more likely to miss out on early intervention programmes such as reading recovery.

If student records were not requested in a specified timeframe, the school had to locate the students to find out why they were not re-enrolled in a new school, which could be costly and time consuming.

In addition, extra time was spent planning and preparing classes for children needing extra support, and the disappearance of library books and resources could sometimes be a problem.

- NZPA