New Zealand

SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Free secondary education is available to all children who have completed Form II or who have attained the age of 14. The secondary schools offer a broad general academic education with a common core to prepare students for the school certificate and for advanced studies.

The school years are called differently. In Primary schools: J (junior) or Primer (pronounced as "primmer") 1 and 2: age 5-6; Standards l-4: age 7-11; in Intermediate schools: Form 1-2: age 11-13 (these are sometimes included in primary schools or in secondary schools); in Secondary schools: Form 3-7: age 13-18.

There are the following national school exams / qualifications: in Form 5: School Certificate; in Form 6: Sixth Form Certificate; in Form 7: Bursary (entrance to university is mostly based on this exam).

At about the age of 13, children enter form 3 of one of 350 secondary schools, usually called colleges or high schools (for example, Kapiti College, Palmerston North Boy's High). This is the first level of classes in secondary schools. A small number of state schools are boarding schools. In the larger cities, state schools may be coeducational or single-sex; in smaller centres they are usually coeducational.

There are two types of state examinations: School Certificate and University Bursaries and Entrance Scholarship. School Certificate examination is taken by most pupils after three years of secondary education which is the 11th year of schooling. It is a general test that partially determines admittance to the upper secondary level (12th and 13th years). A candidate may sit papers in up to six subjects, and receive a grade and mark for each subject. About half the students leave school at this time.

In their fifth year at secondary school, in Form 7, students who take the University Bursaries and Entrance Scholarship Examination may gain supplementary awards for study at a university Admission to professional schools is limited. The prerequisite for admission to university study is either attaining a sixth-form certificate or passing the university entrance examination.

There are more than 100 private primary and secondary schools, most of them Roman Catholic or run by other religious groups. They also receive state subsidies and must meet certain standards of teaching and accommodation. Private schools are often single-sex. Some scholarships are available, but most students pay fees for their education. Some 3 percent of primary pupils and 5 percent of secondary pupils attend private schools as fee-paying students.

There are about sixty special schools for students with various educational and developmental difficulties.

The largest school in New Zealand is the Correspondence School which provides distance education. It is based in Wellington and at Massey University and organizes regular radio lessons, lessons in print and on tape. Teachers visit families regularly where possible. Students enroll because they live in remote areas, or cannot attend school because of medical or other reasons.

There are many school students in New Zealand who come from non-English speaking background. Most of them live in Auckland. A growing number of schools have special programs for children whose first language is not English.

Since the early 1960s Maori education has received great attention. Maori Education Trust was established in 1961 to encourage Maori students to proceed to secondary schools, colleges of education, and universities. The Ministry of Maori Development encourages higher levels of educational, social, and economic achievement, emphasizes Maori education and language projects. New Zealand schools have a high international reputation, especially for their reading and remedial reading programs.

Since the early years of the colony, a great emphasis has been placed on education, and almost the entire population is literate. There are various continuing education and adult education centres which provide opportunities for lifelong education.

(From "Australia and New Zealand in brief" by V.V. Oshchepkova)