Enrolments in foundation education courses

Indicator Description

Enrolments in foundation education courses.

What We Have Found

The number of students enrolled in foundation education courses decreased by 43% from 2004 to 2006, after more than doubling between 2001 and 2004

Why This Is Important

One of the strategies of tertiary education is to raise foundation skills so that all people can participate in our knowledge society.

Foundation competencies are a set of skills, knowledge and dispositions in the areas of language, literacy and numeracy. These are essential to continued learning and active participation in society and family/whanau roles, as well as employment.

Higher levels of literacy are now required in most jobs. People require much more literacy to interact with their world in general. The economic development of the country is much more dependent on people having the ability to engage with information and knowledge in their work. Raising foundation competencies across the population is therefore critical to New Zealand’s economic and social development.

The level, complexity and types of foundation competencies required are continually increasing, particularly with regard to the increased sophistication and use of technology and the greater cultural and social diversity of society. Foundation competencies are no longer just a set of knowledge and skills acquired at school as a prerequisite for entering tertiary education and/or employment. They need to be continually updated and improved throughout life, which means access to foundation education for all age groups will be increasingly important.

Foundation competencies include cross-cutting skills, such as the ability to use technology. They should not be conceived of as a list of discreet and specific competencies, but rather as a bundle of commonly required, interrelated competencies.

How We Are Going

The 1996 International Adult Literacy Survey shows that a significant proportion of adult New Zealanders would face challenges in coping with the range of material found in everyday life and work in a knowledge economy and society. This is largely consistent with results from Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. It reflects the legacy of education systems that had undue focus on differentiating learners between academic and vocational and an industrial system that did not require particularly high levels of literacy in the workforce.

Students enrolled in English language based-foundation education courses, by National Qualifications Framework level (2001 to 2006)

After rapid growth between 2001 and 2004, the provision of foundation courses has decreased substantially in each of the last two years. In 2004 there were 33,037 people enrolled in one or more of these courses, 2.1 times the number of students doing these courses in 2001 (15,883). In 2006, however, the number of students enrolled in English language-based foundation courses had decreased by 43% to 19,038.

Enrolments were highest in National Qualifications Framework level 1 courses, although the number of students doing level 1 and level 2 courses in 2006 was over 50% less than in 2004. In contrast, the number of students enrolled in level 3 courses has increased almost every year since 2001, with a 57% increase since 2004.

Students enrolled in English language-based foundation education courses, by sub-sector (2001 to 2006)

Over half of the students (52.7%) doing English language-based foundation courses in 2006 were enrolled at institutes of technology and polytechnics.  After more than trebling between 2001 and 2003, the number of students enrolled in foundation education at wānanga has decreased markedly over the last few years, while student numbers at private training providers have remained relatively steady since 2001.

Students enrolled in English language-based foundation education courses, by ethnic group (2001 to 2006)

In 2006, the majority of students enrolled in foundation courses were either European/Pākehā (34.9%) or Asian (33.8%), while 22.2% were Māori and 4.6% Pasifika. Strongly associated with the decline in enrolments at wānanga, the number of Māori students enrolled in foundation courses has decreased by 74% since 2003, when Māori comprised over 50% of students in foundation education. The numbers of European/Pākehā and Pasifika students in foundation courses have also from declined by over 50% since 2004, while the number of Asian students has grown by 50% over the same time period.

Where To Find Out More

To obtain information about other ways of looking at fundamental learning skills for the adult population consider indicator:

• Participation in industry training

References

Ministry of Education (2007). New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector Profile & Trends 2006. Wellington: Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Education (2006). Tertiary Education Strategy 2002/07: Monitoring Report 2005. Wellington: Ministry of Education.