New Zealand's government has set a target requiring 80% of students to attend school more than 90% of the time by 2030, compelling schools to adopt formal attendance management plans with escalating responses to absenteeism. Critics warn the policy risks conflating a symptom with a cause, as research suggests chronic absence is more often a signal of underlying issues — including illness, anxiety, bullying, or family hardship — than a problem in itself. Experts argue that blanket penalties and perfect-attendance incentives may pressure families to send unwell children to school while falling disproportionately on disadvantaged students, and that meaningful improvement requires understanding why children are absent rather than simply tracking whether they are.