Secondary education in New Zealand
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Secondary education in New Zealand takes up to five years, covering the ages 13 to 18, corresponding to the school years 9 to 13.
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[edit] Types of school
There are three types of school: state, private (or registered or independent) and state integrated schools. State and state integrated schools are government funded. Private schools receive about 25% of their funding from the government [1], and rely on tuition fees for the rest. State integrated schools are former private schools which are now "integrated" into the state system under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975 [2] "on a basis which will preserve and safeguard the special character of the education provided by them". According to Independent Schools New Zealand, an advocacy group for private schools, about 86% of all school-aged children attend state schools, 10% attend state integrated schools and 4% attend private schools [3].
Many private schools, state area schools and state integrated schools take students from Years 0 to 13, or Years 7 to 13.
[edit] State school enrolment schemes
For state schools, the Education Amendment Act 2000 puts in place a new "system for determining enrolment of students in circumstances where a school has reached its roll capacity and needs to avoid overcrowding." Schools which operate enrolment schemes have a geographically defined "home zone". Residence in this zone, or in the school's boarding house, if it has one, gives right of entry to the School. Students who live outside the school's home zone can be admitted, if there are places available, in the following order of priority: special programmes; siblings of currently enrolled students; siblings of past students; children of board employees; all other students. If there are more applications than available places then selection must be through a ballot, which is randomly selected.
Critics have suggested that the system is fundamentally unfair as it restricts the choice for parents to choose schools and schools to choose their students. In addition, there is evidence that property values surrounding some more desirable schools become inflated, thus restricting the ability of lowers socio-economic groups to purchase a house in the zone.[4]
[edit] School qualifications
The Government-run student qualification system is the National Certificate of Educational Achievement ("NCEA"). At some schools students can opt for IGCSE/A-levels (popularly known as "Cambridge exams") or the International Baccalaureate Diploma.
NCEA has three levels, one for each of the last three years of secondary school. It contains a mix of internal and external assessment. NCEA replaced the old School Certificate, Sixth Form Certificate and Bursary systems.
The IGCSE and A-level exams of the Cambridge International Examinations Board are offered at some schools. For these qualifications, IGCSE is sat in year 11, AS-level in year 12 and A-level in year 13. Neither of these independent qualifications are registered on the NZQA National Qualifications Framework.
University Entrance, based on NCEA results, allows entrance to New Zealand universities. New Zealand Scholarship is a qualification pitched at brighter students.
[edit] Fees and Donations
Strictly speaking, no fees need to be paid for education at a state school. However, most schools also ask for a "voluntary donation" from parents, informally known as "school fees" or a "parental contribution".
[edit] Online information
Current information about individual schools is available from the New Zealand Government's Education Review Office (ERO), which 'reviews schools and early childhood education services every three years, and publishes national reports on current education practice'. ERO reports include statistical data such as overall roll, parental income, and gender and ethnic composition, as well as assessment of areas of strength and areas for improvement. ERO reports are available from the ERO homepage.
The New Zealand Government has a Guide to Schooling in New Zealand which covers primary, intermediate and secondary schooling.
[edit] See also
- Education in New Zealand
- For a list of New Zealand schools with Wikipedia articles, see Category:Schools in New Zealand
