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Some parents are threatening to take their children out of school because of the mask-mandate for older primary school children.
Principals say they are surprised how many families want to home-school their children to avoid the mandate.
The Education Ministry has confirmed that the surge in homeschooling applications that began in September has continued into 2022, with 735 homeschooling applications received in January - four times as many as the same month last year.
Here's education correspondent John Gerritsen.