The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand has had far-reaching consequences on the country that went beyond the spread of the disease itself and efforts to eliminate it, including education, faith communities, Māori, mass gatherings, sports, recreation, and travel. In addition, there were several recorded cases of lockdown violations, leaks, and misinformation about the COVID-19 virus and vaccines.
Education sector responses Primary and secondary schools 2020 On 17 March 2020, Logan Park High School in Dunedin closed for 48 hours after one of its students tested positive for the coronavirus.
On 23 March, several schools in Auckland including Marist College, Randwick Park School and Glendowie College closed after several teachers and parents tested positive for the coronavirus. That same day, the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand called on the Government to shut down all schools immediately. In response to a spike of cases and the upgrading of New Zealand's coronavirus Alert Level to Level 3, the Government closed down all schools and early childhood centres.
On 13 May, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced that the end-of-year high school National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) external exams would be postponed from 6 to 16 November 2020.
On 26 August, Auckland's Secondary Principals' Association announced that secondary schools were planning catch-up classes and holiday lessons for students whose education had been affected by the city's lockdown.
On 8 September, St Dominic's Catholic College in Auckland's Henderson suburb announced that it would shut down for a "deep clean" for three days after it was reported that a student tested positive for COVID-19 that same day.
On 16 September, Chapel Downs Primary School in Auckland's Manukau suburb closed for the rest of the week after a student tested positive for COVID-19.
On 9 November, Ōtorohanga College closed down its hostel after health authorities confirmed that a traveller from Wellington who had tested positive for COVID-19 had visited the facility while travelling through Ōtorohanga and Kawhia in the Waikato region.
2021 In mid-February 2021, Papatoetoe High School in Auckland's Papatoetoe suburb closed after a Year 9 student was identified as one among three new community cases. In addition, five teachers and 28 students at the school were identified as close contacts of the infected student while all other students and staff at the school were considered "casual" contacts. By 17 February, two more Papatoetoe students had tested positive for COVID-19, with the younger sibling being a close contact of the index case.
On 23 June 2021, Whitby Collegiate in Porirua closed for the rest of the week after confirming that eight staff members had visited the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa on 19 June around the same time as an Australian visitor who later tested positive for COVID-19. These staff members had visited Te Papa in order to prepare for a senior school ball.
During the Delta variant community outbreak in mid–August 2021, several cases were reported at schools in Auckland including Avondale College, Pukekohe High School and Western Springs College.
On 25 August, the Ministry of Education and TVNZ relaunched a home learning television channel "Home Learning TV/Papa Kāinga TV" to provide learning support for parents in response to the lockdown following the Auckland Auckland community outbreak. The channel will be hosted on TVNZ's DUKE +1 daytime schedule from 9am to 1pm. Hosts include Suzy Cato and Karen O'Leary.
On 26 August, the Ministry of Education announced that National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) achievements at high schools would be delayed by two weeks to 22 November due to the disruption caused by the Level 4 lockdown that month. The Education Ministry has also indicated that they might reintroduce Learning Recognition Credits depending on how long the lockdown lasted. The Secondary Principals' Association and several principals and secondary students welcomed the delay of NCEA exams. While many secondary students welcomed the postponement of NCEA exams, the sisters Ruby and Lucy Reid opposed the changes on the grounds that it would cause students more stress and disrupt the plans of students working summer jobs. They organised a petition calling for the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) to reconsider the decision. By 28 August, this petition had attracted 22,000 signatures.
On 17 September, Education Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed that there would be no changes to end of the year school holiday dates across the country including Auckland. The Government ruled out extending the length of Term Four since this was the period at the end of the school year when most school students would be most tired. This announcement came following calls by the National Party's education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith to move the school holidays forward.
In mid-September, the Ministry of Health did not allow school students in Auckland (which was then under Level 3 restrictions) to return to board schools in other regions. Parents have complained that these schools are no longer providing remote learning, causing their children to miss out on school. Radio New Zealand estimated that about 150 families the in Auckland's Pukekohe suburb were affected by these travel restrictions. There were also reports of delays of students experiencing delays in getting their border exemptions processed by authorities. In mid-September, Otago Boys High School in Dunedin confirmed that it was working with health authorities to investigate whether a boarding student from Auckland had traveled without seeking a travel exemption.
In mid-October, the Government announced that secondary schools in Auckland would reopen on 26 October for Year 11 to Year 13 students. Several principals including Whangaparāoa College principal Steve McCracken and Albany Senior High School principal Claire Amos expressed concern about the Government's decision to reopen schools amidst spreading community transmissions.
In late October 2021, Hipkins confirmed that Education officials are aiming to reopen primary and intermediate schools in Auckland for Year 1 to Year 8 students by 15 November. However, he also clarified this was only an "indicative date" based on "events closer to the time" in Auckland. The National Party education spokesman Paul Goldsmith has called for Auckland primary and intermediate schools to be reopened immediately.
On 10 November, Hipkins announced that all students in the Auckland and Waikato regions would be able to return to school from 17 November. Year 9 and 10 students would be able to return on a fulltime basis while most students in Years 1–8 would be returning part-time.
In mid-November 2021, the private education provider Villa Education Trust announced plans to establish an online private school, issuing a recruitment call to both vaccinated and unvaccinated teachers. The Trust's academic adviser Alwyn Poole attributed the launch of the private school to the shift towards online learning following the August 2021 pandemic and providing a career pathway for teachers who had chosen not to get vaccinated and hence lost their jobs due to the Government's vaccine mandate. The online school will be run out of Mt Hobson Middle School and will cater to Years 5–13 initially. The fees will be under NZ$10,000. Poole confirmed that at least 50 families had expressed interest in the school.
In early December 2021, the Ministry of Education confirmed that more than 130 education facilities in Auckland have had a staff member or student contract Covid-19 since the start of the Delta outbreak in August 2021. This includes 56 early learning services, 45 primary schools, and 30 composite or secondary schools.
On 14 December, the Ministry of Education reported a surge in homeschooling applications from parents, rising to 3,225 applications by 8 December. As of early December 2021, 8,552 children were in homeschooling; compared with 7,749 in mid-2021 and about 1,300 in mid-2020. Auckland Home Educators director Adrian Koit attributed the growing interest in homeschooling to the long lockdown in Auckland that year and parental concerns about Government efforts to roll out vaccines to children aged over 12 years old in September 2021.
On 15 December, 11 community cases were reported at Eltham Primary School in the South Taranaki district of Eltham. South Taranaki district councillor Mark Bellringer criticised the school authorities for not closing the school following the first case.
2022 On 25 January, Education Minister Hipkins confirmed that the Government had ordered 5,000 air purifiers for New Zealand schools to help filter the COVID-19 air particles. The first 500 purifiers are scheduled to arrive in March while the rest will arrive in the winter of 2022. Under the red setting of the COVID-19 Protection Framework ("traffic light system") which came into effect in late January, teachers, staff, and students in Year Four and above will be required to wear approved face masks.
On 2 February, principals reported that a growing number of parents were planning to homeschool their children due to a Government mandate requiring children in Year 4 and above to wear facemasks indoors. Radio New Zealand reported that the Education Ministry had received 735 homeschooling applications in January 2022, 800 in December 2021, and 867 in November 2021. The Education Ministry had also approved 2,655 homeschool applications last year, declined 78 and was still processing 983 applications. Of these applications, 900 were from Auckland, 500 from Canterbury, and 400 in Waikato.
On 7 February, several schools across the North Island reported positive cases among their students and staff. These schools included Te Mata Primary School in Hastings' Havelock North suburb, Hamilton Boys' High School, Hamilton Christian School, Rototuna Junior and Senior High School, Melville Intermediate School and Prospect School in Auckland's Glen Eden suburb.
On 13 February, a positive case was reported at Musselburgh School in Dunedin. All Year 5 and Year 6 students at the school were identified as close contacts with families being asked to get their children tested. The school remained opened for Years 1 to 4 students.
By 18 February, several Otago and Southland schools including Carisbrook School, Bradford School, Balmacewen Intermediate School, Otago Boys' High School, Columba College, Wakatipu High School, and Gore Main School had reported positive cases.
On 22 February, King's and Queen's High Schools in Dunedin had reported positive cases. By that date, several schools in Queenstown and Gore had reported cases of COVID-19.
By 24 February, the Ministry of Education confirmed that 717 schools and early childhood centres were dealing with at least one COVID-19 case. This figure included 168 early childhood centres, 370 primary schools, 45 intermediate schools, and 134 high schools. Following the transition into phase 3 of the New Zealand Government's Omicron response plan, schools would no longer be required to identify close contacts of cases but are still required to report cases to officials.
On 25 February, Education Minister Hipkins clarified that unvaccinated children and teenagers would be allowed to participate in school sports and extracurricular activities under phase 3 of the country's Omicron response plan. He also clarified that the vaccine pass and vaccine requirement would not be required for those participating in school organised activities.