Alwyn Poole
alwynpoole.substack.com
Alwyn Poole founded and was the head of Mt Hobson Middle School in Auckland for 18 years. MH Academy is now an in-person private school for Year 11-13. There is now a nationwide online provision called Mt Hobson Academy Connected for Years 1-13.
It is now widely known that our education system is a mess and many schools – etc – are simply not fit for purpose.
When questioned in the House on term one attendance figures, Associate Minister of Education Jan Tinetti deflected by saying that it is term two figures that matter and will show the effects of government policy.
Well… the term 2 statistics are out today and are much worse.
- less than 40 per cent of students regularly attending across all deciles.
- decile one full attendance at 23.4 per cent.
Tinetti blames Covid but Asian full participation is above 50 per cent, whereas Maori or Pasifika is at 27 per cent or less. Is Covid that racist?
This is a monumental failure that should result in Tinetti’s resignation and those at the top of the Ministry of Education, whose email footnote states: “We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent outcomes.”
Add to this the results from the new NCEA Literacy and Numeracy credit that show just two per cent of decile one students passing the writing standards. Keep in mind that this is after approximately 12,000 hours of funded schooling per student. Thirty-three per cent of Maori students are leaving school in South Auckland without even Level one NCEA.
It is time for all parents across NZ to ask the hard questions about school leadership, school quality, teacher quality… and to demand a LOT better.
And how trivial for the ERO to say that schools should make attending more “enjoyable” (aka fun). How about – inspirational, aspirational, high quality, demanding… Is it any wonder NZ’s school attendance is at least 15 per cent behind Australia’s?
Alwyn Poole
alwyn.poole@gmail.com
