Foreword

The State of Education series is an annual publication. State of Education in New Zealand: 2008 is the third issue in the series, with most of the data relating to the previous year (2007).

The series provides a system-wide assessment of key aspects of the education system and of trends. In doing so it draws together information from a wide range of sources, some of which have been previously released. But the advantage of this publication is that it provides an overall picture of the education sector and how that sector is meeting the needs of particular population groups. The series does not attempt to assess and compare performance across particular providers.

The general education picture is positive in many respects and there have been  improvements in recent years.

However, there are always areas that require further development. One that this system wide view highlights is that the need for continuing efforts to ensure that students, particularly many of our children from areas of socio-economic disadvantage, do not fall behind and disengage from education applies to all parts of the sector.

There are limitations in the picture that we can provide at this time, mainly because of a lack of base data in specific areas. As an important example, there is still a lack of system-wide information on how well the sector is meeting the needs of students with special education needs.

The education sector indicators presented in the State of Education series are available from the Education Counts website, where greater detail is available. Much of the other reference material is also available on Education Counts, and to assist the reader to find this information each chapter ends with a graphic showing where information can be found.

Readers are encouraged to access Education Counts to obtain updated information since the release of this publication, more detailed information complementing that in the publication, and related information that may be of interest.
 

Karen Sewell

Secretary for Education