this is the other part of New Zealand

this breaks my heart - a 5 year old not being present for 2.5 months already in his first year of school.
This shows a country where there IS poverty; families who are struggling to rent; struggling to have one million dollars to buy a damn ordinary house in the biggest city in the country; families who can not afford basic health care/ a visit to the doctor; families with little support; families with little money to buy a school uniform or lunches; families who actually work full time, but can't afford basics.
The answer might be to move out of the big smoke, go to a smaller town, but will they get a job, away from family support, go to schools who have language weeks, have another student in their school who speaks their heritage language etc etc.
I don't know how to help at all,; this is impossible to keep a student where they need to be academically and socially. It's a NZ wide issue, but i still think most kiwis are in la-la land over poverty/costs in the expensive parts of NZ for just daily things!
It's far from an equal society or even a society which offers the same equitable experience!
Things ARE improving with the government in power, but i also see daily battles and too many needing help, and there is not enough help...

teachers take the brunt for too much, as do little 5 year olds who have no say in being put in a postion out of their control.....