THE STATUS OF EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND 1

The Status of Education in New Zealand

UN Secretary-General Commission Meeting

Rebecca Ferreri

Arizona State University

THE STATUS OF EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND 2

In this report, I would like to discuss the status of education in the country of New

Zealand. I will primarily be focusing on the UN Secretary-Generals Three Initiatives of

education, which are; putting every child in school, improving the quality of education, and

fostering global citizenship. In the past, New Zealand didnt have the best education system, due

to the gender roles that were so heavily emphasized by society. In the early 1900s, Government

policy encouraged women to be mothers and homemakers, and men to be workers and fathers.

At school, girls and boys were taught subjects to prepare them for these roles (Macdonald,

2017), and boys were given physical training, since they were supposed to be the hard workers.

Due to this, not everybody had equal opportunities to education.

As time passed, and New Zealand began to shed itself of the harsh gender roles,

education began improving quite immensely, and nowadays, according to scores, it has the

highest levels of literacy, mathematics, and sciences (Educational System, n.d.). Two of the

main reasons New Zealands education has improved so drastically is because we provide a high

percentage of public funding for education (see Figure 1), and because we believe that education

should start at an early age. Children can partake in Early Childhood Education (ECE) from birth

to school entry age, 20 hours a week for free. It isnt mandatory, but around 95% of children go

to an ECE service (Education in New Zealand, n.d.). ECE services help prepare children to

begin primary school. Once they continue in their educational paths, they attend primary school

and secondary school, where they are taught national curriculum, that includes both practical and

academic education. New Zealands education system also focuses on being open-minded and

letting children explore, thus allowing them to learn in the best way that they can (Educational

System, n.d.). As you can see, New Zealand has improved the quality of education quite a lot

since the 1900s.

THE STATUS OF EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND 3

As for putting every child in school, New Zealand natives believe in giving everyone the

education that they deserve (Educational System, n.d.). If a student lives in an area close to a

school (the schools zone), [they are] guaranteed to get a place at that school (Education in

New Zealand, n.d.), however, if they wish to attend school outside of that area, they may have

to apply (and a place is not guaranteed). Students can also choose between single-sex or co-ed

schools. Individuals that require special educations typically attend school alongside their peers,

and are given the supports and accommodations they need. If parents would not like that, there

are also other options within the education network including special schools (Education in

New Zealand, n.d.).

Lastly, New Zealand is successful in creating a sense of global citizenship in its students

by incorporating practical life issues and topics into education, and by teaching students to

develop a future-oriented mentality. A large portion of the education system involves students

being encouraged to think about the future; about issues that the world may encounter; and issues

they could possibly solve. Students have an awareness of massive and ongoing social, economic

and technological changes (Bolstad, 2012). New Zealand also teaches students (and all

members of society) to be tolerant, respectful, and open minded towards other cultures, which

helps promote global citizenship as well.

THE STATUS OF EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND 4

Expenditure Per Primary Student, Compared to Other Countries (Figure 1)

As I mentioned earlier, New Zealand provides a high amount of funding for schools.

Although we arent at the very top of the list, compared to other countries, we rank 8th. The

funding that is given to schools helps to improve the quality of education, since schools now

have money to afford things they need for certain curriculum, programs, etc. (Retrieved from

https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#_state_time_value=2014;&marker_select@_geo=nzl&trailSta

rtTime=2011;;&axis/_x_which=expenditure/_per/_student/_primary/_percent/_of/_gdp/_per/_pe

rson;;;&chart-type=barrank)
THE STATUS OF EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND 5

Ratio of Girls/Boys in School, Compared to Other Countries (Figure 2)

In this chart, you can see that New Zealand ranks 15th in having an equal number of boys

and girls enrolled in both public and private schools. The ratio isnt as high because there are

more 0-24-year-old males than there are females (which can be seen on the Population &

Settlement page). (Retrieved from

https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#_state_time_value=2014;&marker_select@_geo=nzl;;&axis/_

x_which=ratio/_of/_girls/_to/_boys/_in/_primary/_and/_secondary/_education/_perc;;;&chart-

type=barrank)
THE STATUS OF EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND 6

References

Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S. Bull, A. Boyd, S., Hipkins, R. (2012, June). Supporting

future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective. Retrieved from

https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306

Educational System. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.education-newzealand.org/educational-

system/

Education in New Zealand. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.education.govt.nz/ministry-of-

education/our-role-and-our-people/education-in-nz/

Macdonald, C. (2017, Aug 1). Women and men. Retrieved from https://teara.govt.nz/en/women-

and-men