Education Statistics of New Zealand 2004

Introduction

The main source of information for the tables is a census of educational institutions carried out during July 2004. The data contained in this volume reflects a snapshot of education in New Zealand and therefore does not give cumulative enrolments over an entire year.

In this publication the ethnicity of students at the pre-school level is normally identified by a parent or guardian. Ethnicity of students at school level is either self-identified or identified by a parent or guardian. Students at tertiary level usually self-identify their ethnic group or groups.

A glossary that defines other educational classifications and terms used in this publication can be found at the bottom of this page.

Unless otherwise stated, data in this publication was collected by the Data Management Unit of the Ministry of Education.

General

At 1 July 2004 , there were 1,323,679 students attending educational institutions (or receiving homeschooling) throughout New Zealand . This is an increase in student numbers of 3.0% since 1 July 2003 . It is estimated that these students represented 33% of the total New Zealand population.

At 1 July 2004 , there were 7,616 educational institutions. Of these, 4,373 were early childhood institutions (excluding the Correspondence School), 2,671 were schools, 35 were public tertiary education providers and 536 were private tertiary education providers (this includes only those providers that had students in formal programmes of study at July).

There are a number of educational institutions that provide education specifically for Māori and Pasifika students. Examples are kōhanga reo, ngā puna kōhungahunga and Pasifika early childhood groups for pre-schoolers, kura kaupapa Māori for school-aged students, and wānanga for post-secondary education.

Twenty percent (265,840) of students attending educational institutions (excluding homeschooled students) at July 2004 identified themselves as Māori, while 7.0% (95,242) identified themselves as Pasifika.

There were 53,547 international students attending New Zealand schools and tertiary institutions at July 2004. This is an increase of 2% since 1 July 2003.

Early Childhood Education

• The aim of early childhood education is to promote children's learning and development. The main providers of early childhood education are:
  Kindergartens, which operate sessional early childhood education for children between the ages of three and five.

• Playcentres, which are collectively supervised and managed by parents for children aged up to five years.

• Education and Care Centres, which provide either sessional, all-day, or flexible hour programmes for children from birth to school age. They may be owned by private businesses, private trusts, public bodies or community trusts.
  Included are a small but increasing number of services that provide Māori Immersion Education and Pasifika Education.

• Homebased Services, which are a network of homes under the supervision of a homebased coordinator. The coordinator places children with caregivers in approved homes for an agreed number of hours per week.

• The Correspondence School, which is a distance education service mainly for children between three and five who are unable to attend, or have limited access to, an early childhood service because of isolation, illness or itinerancy. Programmes are also available for children with special needs.

• Te Kōhanga Reo programmes, with a whānau development philosophy based on the total immersion of children from birth to school age in Māori language, culture, and values.

• A range of licence-exempt services, which include:
  - Playgroups, which are community based groups of parents and children who meet for one to three sessions per week.
  - Pasifika Early Childhood Groups, whose main purpose is to provide programmes based on the values and languages of Pasifika cultures.
  - Special character centres such as Early Intervention Centres and Pasifika Centres. These groups operate with a high level of parent participation.
  - Ngā Puna Kōhungahunga, which are groups set up in community based locations that are culturally appropriate for Māori.

Enrolment Trends

A total of 184,513 children were on the regular roll of an early childhood education service at 1 July 2004, an increase of 2.5% since 2003.

Of all year one students attending schools at 1 July 2004, 92% had previously participated in some form of early childhood education. In comparison, 96% of European/Pākehā year one students, 90% of Asian students, 86% Māori students and 82% of Pasifika students attended some form of early childhood education (refer to table 15).

Different Types of Services

In 2004 there were 4,374 services providing early childhood education. Of these, 3,574 were licensed. There was an overall net increase of 94 licensed and licence-exempt services from July 2003
to July 2004.

Education and care services had the highest proportion of enrolments at licensed services (49.7%) in 2004, followed by kindergartens (27.8%). Enrolments in education and care services have increased steadily over the last ten years. In comparison the proportion of kindergarten enrolments have declined since 1995. This reflects the changing patterns of employment of parents who require services that offer all-day care rather than sessional programmes.

Ethnic Trends

Māori accounted for 19.1% of all enrolments in July 2004. Education and care services had the highest proportion of Māori enrolments (31.6%) in July 2004, followed closely by Kōhanga reo (29.5%).

Enrolments for children identified as Pasifika were 6.5% of all enrolments. Education and Care services had the largest share of Pasifika enrolments with 44.0% of all Pasifika enrolments.

European enrolments made up 67.2%, Asian enrolments made up 5.7% and other ethnic groups comprised 1.5% of all enrolments.

Staff at Early Childhood Services

In July 2004, 50.8% of teachers in licensed services (excluding kōhanga reo and playcentres) had a Diploma of Teaching (ECE) or higher. A Diploma in Teaching (ECE) is the minimum qualification required for teacher registration.

The proportion of teachers at education and care services holding a Diploma in Teaching (ECE) or higher increased from 40.4% in July 2003 to 42.2% in July 2004.

Schools

• Education is compulsory for all children aged between six and sixteen years. Most children are enrolled at school on their fifth birthday. The New Zealand Education Act (1989) provides for free education in state schools administered by boards of trustees.
• At 1 July 2004 there were 2,532 state schools and 114 private schools, which receive some Government funding.
• Homeschooling is possible for those who prefer it, on the condition that a standard of education similar to that available in a registered school is provided. At 1 July 2004 there were 6,506 students involved in homeschooling.
• The Correspondence School provides education for students who cannot attend a school because they live in remote or inaccessible areas, because they are overseas, or because of illness or other special reasons.
• In the school sector an adult is defined as a student who is aged 19 years or over on 1 January of a year in which they attend school.

Enrolment Trends

At 1 July 2004 there were 764,654 students enrolled at schools in New Zealand. Between 2003 and 2004, enrolments in the school sector increased by 2,899 (0.4%).

International Students

At 1 July 2004 there were 15,050 international students attending New Zealand schools. International students now account for 2.4% of the school population. Of these students, 14,477 were foreign fee-paying, which was a decrease of 17.0% between July 2003 and July 2004. The majority of foreign fee-paying students came from the Asian region.

Ethnic Trends

The number of Asian domestic students attending New Zealand schools increased by 4.8% between July 2003 and July 2004. In July 2004 they accounted for 7.8% of the domestic school population, compared with 7.5% in July 2003.
The proportion of European/Pākehā students in the total domestic school population decreased slightly (from 61.3% in July 2003 to 60.5% in July 2004). The proportion of Māori students has increased marginally from 21.1% to 21.4%, and Pasifika students increased from 8.4% to 8.5%.

Regional Trends

In 2004, regional rolls either decreased or showed slower growth than in recent years. In Auckland, where 33.1% of the national school population attend schools, there was a 0.6% growth in rolls compared with 3.8% in July 2003 and 5% in July 2002.
The highest growth rates occurred in the Bay of Plenty and Canterbury regions 1.3% and 0.9% respectively.
Seven regions had negative growth rates at July 2004. The Manawatu/Wanganui and Southland regions had the lowest growth rates at -1.6% and -1.4% respectively.

Secondary School Retention

Of all the 14-year-olds at school in July 2002, 81.2% of them were at school at the age of 16 in July 2004. The retention rate for Maori 16-year-olds has increased one percentage point - from 62.7% at July 2003 to 63.7% in July 2004. Pasifika students continue to have the highest retention rates.

Attainment of School Leavers in 2003

53,471 students left school in 2003. Year 13 was the last year of schooling for 57.1% of school leavers. Sixty-seven percent of all students leaving schools in 2003 gained Sixth Form Certificate or higher. Twenty percent (10,523 students) attained A or B bursaries, compared with 19% in 2002. Almost a quarter (13,235 students) left with Sixth Form Certificate or NCEA Level 2 as their highest qualification, this figure is comparable to the 24% that left with Sixth Form Certificate in 2002.

Tertiary Education

Tertiary education, outlined in this section, is formal education leading to a recognised New Zealand qualification. Students can undertake formal qualifications at public tertiary education institutions and private tertiary education providers. Public tertiary education institutions include universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and wānanga. Private tertiary education providers consist of:

• Private providers receiving a tuition subsidy and with courses approved for student loans and allowances.
• Private providers with courses approved for student loans and allowances only.
• Other tertiary education providers in receipt of a Ministry of Education Grant (OTEP).
• Other private providers registered with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. Many of these receive funding for Skill NZ programmes.Data on students attending all of the providers listed above are collected each July via several sources. The statistics provided in this publication therefore represent a snapshot of formal students enrolled at tertiary education providers listed above as at 31 July 2004.
  

Enrolment Trends

At 31 July 2004 there were 368,006 formal students attending tertiary education providers in New Zealand. This is an increase of 9.2 percent (31,002 students) since July 2003. The students at public tertiary institutions represented 83.9 percent of the total number of formally enrolled tertiary students.

The 21,741 increase in student enrolments in the public sector for July 2003-2004 is largely accounted for through real growth in enrolments at Polytechnics. The increase of 19,442 students enrolled at Polytechnics is a direct result of strong growth at two institutions.

There was continued growth in the number of international students enrolled at New Zealand tertiary education providers in 2004. At July 2004 there were 39,004 international students, an increase of 11.7 percent (4,089 students) from July 2003.

Overall the private tertiary sector had 59,158 enrolments at 31 July 2004 compared with 49,897 in 2003, an increase of 18.6 percent.

Qualification Levels

Nearly 35 percent of all tertiary students enrolled at July 2004 were studying at degree level. A further 7.7 percent were studying at post-graduate level, 18.7 percent at diploma level and 38.6 percent at certificate level.

Just over 68 percent of students enrolled at private providers studied at the certificate level.

Age of Students

At 31 July 2004, students aged 25 and over accounted for 53.6 percent of the student population. Of all students enrolled in tertiary education, 155,069 (42.1 percent) were within the core age group (18-24 years). These students represented 38.3 percent of the total population of this age group.

Ethnic Trends

There was a continued increase (3.9 percent) in the number of Māori enrolled in tertiary education between July 2003 and 2004. The increase in 2004 was due to increases in enrolments by Māori at Private Training Establishments and Polytechnics. The most significant decrease in Māori enrolments (20.5 percent) was at Wānanga.

Māori made up 21.2 percent (69,876) of all domestic students. Asian students accounted for 12.1 percent (39,645) of domestic students, and 5.8 percent (19,060) identified themselves as Pasifika.

Qualification Completions – Public Tertiary Education Institutions

In 2002, a total of 81,033 students gained 82,376 qualifications from public Tertiary Education Institutions. Compared with 2002, this is a 12.9 percent increase in the number of students completing qualifications. Women made up 59.9 percent of all students completing qualifications.

Glossary of Educational Terms

Activity Centre Centre for secondary students experiencing problems with schooling and in need of alternative options. Activity centres are attached to a local secondary school for administrative purposes.

Adult Students A student who is aged 19 years of age or older on 1 January of a year in which they attend a school.

Alternative Education Student A young person aged between thirteen and a half and sixteen years of age who has become alienated from the education system, and who is either unwilling to attend a regular school or schools are unwilling to enrol them in a mainstream setting.

Area School (see Composite School )

Beginning Teachers Teachers in their first year of teaching after graduation. The Ministry of Education allocates a time allowance to beginning teachers who have an appointment of at least 10 weeks and are being paid out of teachers’ salaries.

Bilingual Class/es Classes in which some students in a school are involved in Māori-medium education for 3 to 20 hours per week.

Bilingual School A school where all students are involved in Māori-medium education for 3 to 20 hours per week.

Childcare Centres (see Education and Care Centres).

College of Education A public tertiary institution that provides teacher education training.

Community and General Education Mainly second chance education for adults and also hobby classes provided through a variety of educational institutions, organisations, and community groups.

Composite Schools Schools offering education to students at both the primary and secondary levels (Years 1 – 15)

Contributing Schools Schools offering education to students up to the intermediate level of schooling (Years 1 – 6)

Correspondence School National school providing off-campus learning for students unable to attend regular school, because of distance, through to medical or other reasons. Provides early childhood through to adult education.

Decile/Decile Band (See Socio-Economic Decile Band)

Education and Care Centres Provide sessional, all-day, or flexible hour programmes for children from birth to school age. They may be privately owned, non-profit making, or operated as an adjunct to a business or organisation.

Education Review Office (ERO) Government agency responsible for reviewing and reporting regularly on the performance of New Zealand schools and early childhood centres.

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) An ESOL student is one who comes from a home where English is not the predominant language.

Equivalent Full-Time Students (EFTS) The EFTS system is a method of counting tertiary student numbers. The basis of the EFTS system is that a student taking a normal year’s full-time study equals 1.0 EFTS unit and the courses taken by part-time students are fractions of one EFTS unit.

Ethnicity The ethnic group or groups to which a student belongs. A parent or guardian normally identifies ethnicity of children at the pre-school level. Ethnicity of students at school level is either self-identified or identified by a parent or guardian. Students at tertiary level usually self-identify their ethnic group or groups.

Exchange Student An international student studying in New Zealand under an exchange programme approved by the New Zealand Government.

Field of Study Field of study is the subject matter of a tertiary qualification. The 12 broad Fields of Study are from the New Zealand Standard Classification of Education (NZSCED).

First-Year Student A student enrolled in their first year of their first formal programme at a tertiary institution either in New Zealand or overseas. Enrolments in STAR, community or other non-formal courses are not included under this definition.

Foreign Fee-Paying Student An international student who meets full tuition costs on their own or from funds provided to them by sponsors other than the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Foreign Research-Based Postgraduate Student Any non-domestic postgraduate student enrolled in a course or courses whose supervised work results in the production of a substantial research output by the individual student, amounting to 100 percent of the learning and assessment for that course.

Formal Student (Tertiary) For statistical purposes, a tertiary student is considered to be a formal student when enrolled in a formal programme of study at a tertiary education provider with an aggregated EFTS consumption value greater than 0.03 (i.e., more than one week’s full-time duration). STAR students are not included.

Full Primary Schools Schools offering education to children up to Year 8 (see Year of Schooling)

Full-Time Equivalent Student (FTE) At secondary schools an FTE is calculated by adding together class contact hours of each part-time student, dividing by 20, and rounding to one decimal place.

Full-Time Teacher Equivalent (FTTE) (In schools) Calculated by adding together class contact hours, dividing by 25, and rounding to two decimal places.

Homebased Services (Early childhood education) A cluster of homes under the supervision of a homebased co-ordinator. The co-ordinator places children with caregivers in approved homes for an agreed number of hours per week.

Homeschooling Parents/guardians may choose to educate their children at home, on the condition that a standard of education similar to that in a regular school is provided.

Immersion Class/es Classes in which some students in a school are involved in Māori-medium education for more than 20 hours per week.

Immersion School A school where all students are involved in Māori-medium education for more than 20 hours per week.

Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) Organisations that develop high quality, systematic training arrangements (through tertiary institutions, private training establishments, and the workplace) for people employed in the industry they represent.

Intermediate Schools Schools offering education to Year 7 and 8 students.

International Standard of Classification of Education (ISCED) A system designed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) so that statistics on education can be compiled and presented on an internationally comparable basis.

ISCED-1997 levels of education are:

Level 0 Pre-primary education.

Level 1 Primary schooling up to Year 6.

Level 2 Year 7-10.

Level 3 Year 11-15 and post-secondary formal programmes that do not go beyond Year 15 level.

Level 4 Education beyond school level leading to an award not equivalent to a diploma.

Level 5 Includes diplomas, degrees and postgraduate programmes.

Level 6 Includes Doctorates.

International Student An overseas student who has come to New Zealand for the purpose of education, and/or is currently studying on a student permit or diplomatic passport. This excludes students from overseas with New Zealand citizenship or permanent residence or with Australian citizenship.

Kindergarten An early childhood institution that provides sessional programmes for mainly three and four year old children.

Kura Kaupapa Māori State schools where teaching is in the Māori language (Te Reo Māori) and is based on Māori culture and values.

Kura Teina A developing Kura that is attached to a recognised Kura Kaupapa Māori.

Learning Zone Each subject has a level of study (learning zone) associated with it to indicate the class level at which it is generally studied. The learning zone may differ from the student’s year of schooling (e.g. a year 13 student studying science at NCEA Level 1is recorded in the year 11 learning zone).

Licence-Exempt Early Childhood Services Some community based non-profit making centres operated by parents are exempt from licensing if they operate for no more than 3 hours on any one day, have more than half the parents attending each session and parents assume responsibility for each child attending the group.

Licensed Early Childhood Education Centres Any premises used regularly for the education or care of 3 or more children under the age of 6 must be licensed except where specifically exempted by the Minister of Education.

Māori-Medium Education Students are taught curriculum subjects in both Māori and English (bilingual) or in Māori only (immersion) as well as learning Te Reo Māori.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Student A student on a scholarship from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Nature of Attendance (Tertiary) A measure of the extent of attendance in a programme that indicates whether a student is currently studying full-time or part-time. The calculation for this is based on the Loans Entry Threshold (LET) indicator.

New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID) Student A student on a scholarship from the New Zealand Agency for International Development.

New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) Independent body responsible for setting and regularly reviewing standards for qualifications including administering national examinations.

Ngā Puna Kōhungahunga License-exempt groups in community based locations that are culturally appropriate for Māori.

Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Schemes (ORRS) The schemes, introduced in 1997, assist individuals with very high or high special education needs by providing funding for extra teaching, specialist programming, therapy and education support.

Other: Vote Education Special schools that are funded by the Ministry of Education but not owned by the Ministry.

Pacific-Medium Education Students are taught curriculum subjects in both Pacific languages and English (bilingual) or in Pacific languages only (immersion).

Playcentre An early childhood institution that is collectively supervised and managed by parents for children aged between 0 and 5 years.

Polytechnic A public tertiary education institution that is characterised by a wide diversity of vocational and professional programmes.

Prior Activity The main activity of a first-year tertiary student at 1 October the previous year. Categories include: attendance at a secondary school or other form of education, paid employment, house-person, retired or other beneficiary, and overseas.

Private Tertiary Education Providers These consist of private institutions registered with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and other tertiary education providers in receipt of a Ministry of Education Grant (OTEP). Many private tertiary education providers receive Ministry of Education tuition subsidies and/or funding for Skill NZ programmes.

Public Tertiary Education Institutions A university, college of education, polytechnic or wānanga as defined by the Education Act 1989. The term excludes other post-secondary institutions, such as private training establishments.

Restricted Composite School Schools offering education to Years 7 to 10 students.

Skill NZ A Government agency responsible for providing training in skill development within New Zealand . Programmes include Skill Enhancement, Training Opportunities and Youth Training.

Socio-Economic Decile Band All schools are given a decile rating, depending on the socio-economic status of the area they serve. Schools in the lowest deciles (1-3) draw their students from communities with the highest degree of socio-economic disadvantage, while those in the highest deciles (8-10) draw the least from these communities.

STAR Secondary, Tertiary alignment resource. STAR’s main purpose is to assist senior secondary school students in finding suitable pathways into work or further secondary or tertiary study.

Supernumerary Teachers Teachers identified as being above entitlement but guaranteed employment for a set period of time. This occurs largely because of falling rolls and closure of schools.

Suspensions and Stand-downs (school) Students may be suspended for gross misconduct or continual disobedience, either where their behaviour is a harmful or dangerous example to other students at the school, or where there is a likelihood of serious harm either to themselves or to other students if they are not suspended. A stand-down is the formal removal of a student from a school for a specified period. A suspension is the formal removal of a student from school until the board of trustees decides the outcome at a suspension meeting.

Te Kōhanga Reo An early childhood institution administered by the Te Kōhanga Reo Trust. The programmes are based on the total immersion of children from birth to school age in Māori language, culture, and values.

Te Reo Māori The Māori language.

Teen Parent Units Are classes attached to secondary schools for the education of teenage parents where verified barriers to learning in a mainstream situation have resulted from pregnancy and child rearing responsibilities; and who have enrolled within the age range to receive free education (i.e. up to age 19 years).

Tertiary Education Providers Post compulsory educational institutions that provide formal programmes of study.

University A public tertiary education institution that is primarily concerned with advanced learning and knowledge, research, and teaching to a postgraduate level.

Wānanga A public tertiary institution that provides programmes with an emphasis on the application of knowledge regarding ahuatanga Māori (Māori tradition) according to tikanga Māori (Māori custom).

Wharekura The Year 9-15 component of Kura Kaupapa Māori that are composite schools. Wharekura are not recorded distinctly from Kura Kaupapa Māori in Ministry data collections, so are not reported on separately within this publication.

Year of Schooling Measures the number of years of schooling a student has received and provides the Ministry of Education with a method of counting students for funding and staffing purposes.

Related Pages on Education Counts

See Education Statistics of New Zealand publication home page (also includes data from publications as downloadable spreadsheets).