Auckland teacher 'not surprised' at increasing rate of teens leaving school unqualified
Photo:
RNZ / Luka Forman
An Auckland secondary school teacher says he is not surprised by the increasing rate of teenagers leaving high school with no qualifications, and does not anticipate the situation improving.
Of last year's school-leavers, 16 percent had no qualifications, the
highest figure in a decade
.
It equates to about 10,600 teenagers, and is 0.4 of a percentage point more than the previous year and about six percentage points higher than the 10-11 percent recorded in the years prior to the start of the pandemic.
The percentage of school leavers with no NCEA certificate has been rising since 2020, a trend teachers blamed on the after-effects of Covid-19 lockdowns combined with high employment prompting more young people to leave school earlier than they otherwise would.
Papakura High School principal Simon Craggs told
Morning Report
changes to literacy and numeracy standards were restricting students.
"It's not really a surprise to me," he said.
"Since they changed the literacy and numeracy requirements that more and more students, particularly from low socio-economic backgrounds, ESOL backgrounds, Maori and Pasifika, weren't going to be able to access qualifications."
The Education Ministry's figures showed 13 percent of last year's leavers had not reached the literacy and numeracy benchmark compared to about 10 percent under the previous requirement in pre-pandemic years.
The figures showed 81 percent of last year's leavers had stayed at school until the age of 17 or beyond, up from 79 percent the previous year with bigger increases in retention at schools in poorer communities.
Craggs said the revised criteria for the co-requisite tests, known as common assessment activities (CAAs), had "restricted students".
"There are other factors involved, but I would say it's 90 percent due to the new CAA tests in particular," he said.
"The problem I have with that is not that we're trying to strengthen literacy and numeracy, the problem is the test itself is very narrow.
"It's not actually measuring functional literacy and numeracy."
Māori had the worst results - 28 percent left with no qualification last year, compared with 19 percent of Pacific leavers and 14 percent of European/Pākehā leavers.
Papakura High School had scrapped NCEA level 1, instead opting for a two-year level 2 programme.
"[Level 1] was too hard for our students to do the co-requisite, get their literacy and numeracy, and get 60 credits," Craggs said.
However because students had to stay longer at school to earn a qualification, a higher number of unqualified students would drop out, he said.
A tight labour market was also limiting the options for young people.
"That's another scary thing," Craggs said.
"A lot of them aren't going into quality employment. They are going into employment, but it's casual, reduced hours, take what you get sort of thing. It's very difficult for them to be accessing quality employment.
"Maybe three or four years ago they could go into a good full-time job, and build a career from that. They're not able to do that at the moment."
Training programmes such as People Potential were proving to be a viable alternative for young people, although spots were tight.
Craggs said he did not believe an
overhaul of NCEA
would lead to declining rates of unqualified school leavers.
"If we were looking at making some tweaks to NCEA, making it a better qualification, making the literacy and numeracy requirement more [functional] then we might have some more optimism for the future.
"I'm not sure that just dumping NCEA and creating a new qualification which is subject-based is necessarily going to make a big difference to those students."
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Otago Daily Times
17 hours ago
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Principal not surprised more students leaving school unqualified
An Auckland secondary school teacher says he is not surprised by the increasing rate of teenagers leaving high school with no qualifications, and does not anticipate the situation improving. Of last year's school-leavers, 16% had no qualifications, the highest figure in a decade. It equates to about 10,600 teenagers, and is 0.4 of a percentage point more than the previous year and about six percentage points higher than the 10-11% recorded in the years prior to the start of the pandemic. The percentage of school leavers with no NCEA certificate has been rising since 2020, a trend teachers blamed on the after-effects of Covid-19 lockdowns combined with high employment prompting more young people to leave school earlier than they otherwise would. Papakura High School principal Simon Craggs said changes to literacy and numeracy standards were restricting students. "It's not really a surprise to me," he said. "Since they changed the literacy and numeracy requirements that more and more students, particularly from low socio-economic backgrounds, ESOL backgrounds, Maori and Pasifika, weren't going to be able to access qualifications." The Education Ministry's figures showed 13% of last year's leavers had not reached the literacy and numeracy benchmark compared to about 10% under the previous requirement in pre-pandemic years. The figures showed 81% of last year's leavers had stayed at school until the age of 17 or beyond, up from 79% the previous year with bigger increases in retention at schools in poorer communities. Craggs said the revised criteria for the co-requisite tests, known as common assessment activities (CAAs), had "restricted students". "There are other factors involved, but I would say it's 90% due to the new CAA tests in particular," he said. "The problem I have with that is not that we're trying to strengthen literacy and numeracy, the problem is the test itself is very narrow. "It's not actually measuring functional literacy and numeracy." Māori had the worst results — 28% left with no qualification last year, compared with 19% of Pacific leavers and 14% of European/Pākehā leavers. Papakura High School had scrapped NCEA level 1, instead opting for a two-year level 2 programme. "[Level 1] was too hard for our students to do the co-requisite, get their literacy and numeracy, and get 60 credits," Craggs said. However because students had to stay longer at school to earn a qualification, a higher number of unqualified students would drop out, he said. A tight labour market was also limiting the options for young people. "That's another scary thing," Craggs said. "A lot of them aren't going into quality employment. They are going into employment, but it's casual, reduced hours, take what you get sort of thing. It's very difficult for them to be accessing quality employment. "Maybe three or four years ago they could go into a good full-time job, and build a career from that. They're not able to do that at the moment." Training programmes such as People Potential were proving to be a viable alternative for young people, although spots were tight. Craggs said he did not believe an overhaul of NCEA would lead to declining rates of unqualified school leavers. "If we were looking at making some tweaks to NCEA, making it a better qualification, making the literacy and numeracy requirement more [functional] then we might have some more optimism for the future. "I'm not sure that just dumping NCEA and creating a new qualification which is subject-based is necessarily going to make a big difference to those students."
RNZ News
17 hours ago
- RNZ News
Auckland teacher 'not surprised' at increasing rate of teens leaving school unqualified
Principal of Papakura high Simon Craggs. Photo: RNZ / Luka Forman An Auckland secondary school teacher says he is not surprised by the increasing rate of teenagers leaving high school with no qualifications, and does not anticipate the situation improving. Of last year's school-leavers, 16 percent had no qualifications, the highest figure in a decade . It equates to about 10,600 teenagers, and is 0.4 of a percentage point more than the previous year and about six percentage points higher than the 10-11 percent recorded in the years prior to the start of the pandemic. The percentage of school leavers with no NCEA certificate has been rising since 2020, a trend teachers blamed on the after-effects of Covid-19 lockdowns combined with high employment prompting more young people to leave school earlier than they otherwise would. Papakura High School principal Simon Craggs told Morning Report changes to literacy and numeracy standards were restricting students. "It's not really a surprise to me," he said. "Since they changed the literacy and numeracy requirements that more and more students, particularly from low socio-economic backgrounds, ESOL backgrounds, Maori and Pasifika, weren't going to be able to access qualifications." The Education Ministry's figures showed 13 percent of last year's leavers had not reached the literacy and numeracy benchmark compared to about 10 percent under the previous requirement in pre-pandemic years. The figures showed 81 percent of last year's leavers had stayed at school until the age of 17 or beyond, up from 79 percent the previous year with bigger increases in retention at schools in poorer communities. Craggs said the revised criteria for the co-requisite tests, known as common assessment activities (CAAs), had "restricted students". "There are other factors involved, but I would say it's 90 percent due to the new CAA tests in particular," he said. "The problem I have with that is not that we're trying to strengthen literacy and numeracy, the problem is the test itself is very narrow. "It's not actually measuring functional literacy and numeracy." Māori had the worst results - 28 percent left with no qualification last year, compared with 19 percent of Pacific leavers and 14 percent of European/Pākehā leavers. Papakura High School had scrapped NCEA level 1, instead opting for a two-year level 2 programme. "[Level 1] was too hard for our students to do the co-requisite, get their literacy and numeracy, and get 60 credits," Craggs said. However because students had to stay longer at school to earn a qualification, a higher number of unqualified students would drop out, he said. A tight labour market was also limiting the options for young people. "That's another scary thing," Craggs said. "A lot of them aren't going into quality employment. They are going into employment, but it's casual, reduced hours, take what you get sort of thing. It's very difficult for them to be accessing quality employment. "Maybe three or four years ago they could go into a good full-time job, and build a career from that. They're not able to do that at the moment." Training programmes such as People Potential were proving to be a viable alternative for young people, although spots were tight. Craggs said he did not believe an overhaul of NCEA would lead to declining rates of unqualified school leavers. "If we were looking at making some tweaks to NCEA, making it a better qualification, making the literacy and numeracy requirement more [functional] then we might have some more optimism for the future. "I'm not sure that just dumping NCEA and creating a new qualification which is subject-based is necessarily going to make a big difference to those students." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
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Broughton met committee members in June to discuss the library's future but declined to be interviewed by RNZ, saying it was an "operational" matter. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Selwyn Council head of operational delivery Gareth Morgan said the council could not continue funding a "privately-owned" building. "Tai Tapu library was a surprise to some people in council. Some ex-council officers made a decision in 2020 to fund the maintenance. There was a council restructure in 2022 that identified that this had been taking place and the instruction was to work with the library to cease that arrangement," he said. "We've had staff working with the library since 2022 and working with them closely in trying to step through a process of getting them to prepare for their future and to stand alone. We have worked with them and we're happy to continue to support them. "We recognise its heritage status, we recognise it's a fantastic building and we'll do what we can to support them to survive." 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The committee said a 2019 memorandum of understanding expired without explanation in 2022 despite repeated requests for its renewal, with members instead assured existing arrangements would continue. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Sir Heaton and his wife Jessie donated money from bulb sales and flower show prize winnings to help fund the library after establishing the country's pre-eminent daffodil collection in the 1920s. According to Heritage New Zealand, then-Governor-General Charles Bathurst remarked at the library's opening: "I have never before heard of flowers being converted by realisation into a home for the flowers of literature - it is a most ingenious and delightful idea." In last October's "letter of intent", the council said it intended to transfer the library's special funds to the society so committee members could make their own financial decisions. "Going forward, we appreciate the heritage status of the building and its importance to the community and we will provide information to assist you with exploring alternative funding," the letter said. Otahuna Lodge. Photo: Christchurch City Libraries, CCL-Selwyn-P4231583 In correspondence that followed, the committee expressed scepticism about the council's approach and said any notion the library was owned by the people of Tai Tapu had no legal validity. "We see this as a 'one size fits all' policy which conveniently ignores the value of Tai Tapu library to the council," the letter said. "In our constitution, the council is named as the future owner should the incorporated society status come to an end. The home page for Selwyn Libraries lists Tai Tapu as a community library which may be accessed by all members of Selwyn Libraries. "With due respect, we request the opportunity for consultation on a policy which places the future of Tai Tapu library in jeopardy." In April the council offered to provide building and grounds maintenance, window cleaning, internet access and insurance until June 2027, although the money would come from the library's special funds - money the committee estimated would run out a year earlier. Springs ward councillor Grant Miller said it would be exceptionally sad if the library closed and urged the council to be pragmatic. "The community is ratepayers, that's who we are, so whether it's the Selwyn District Council's name on the title or whether it's the library [society], that's semantics. The reality is, it's a community asset. The council should be looking after it," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
