Parents will be fined $300 for the first offence of truancy and $3000 for subsequent wagging under New Zealand legislation being rushed through Parliament.

The Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill will double truancy penalties. If a parent does not enroll a child at school, the fine will also be $3000 - double what it was before.

Up to 30,000 children a week are estimated to play truant from their classrooms. The bill will allow the Secretary if Education to initiate prosecutions alongside boards of trustees.

Truancy prosecutions are unusual under the existing Education Act, which requires parents to ensure children under 16 attend classes.

The bill also outlines that students will be assessed against national standards and the information will be given to parents.

It says an Education Review Office report last year noted that although a range of sophisticated assessment tools was available to track student achievement, 56 per cent of schools were not using "worthwhile achievement data".