I am pleased to present the 2022 Ngā Ara o te Mātauranga – the pathways of education. It provides an overview of how New Zealand’s education system is performing from early learning through to schooling and tertiary.

This report shows how resilient our education system is. The last three years have been an incredible challenge with the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our education system has not been immune to this.

During 2022 we’ve heard from ākonga and kaiako about the pressures the pandemic has brought and this has shown through in declining rates of attendance and qualification levels of school leavers.

As a government, we’ve responded to these concerns. We launched the Attendance and Engagement Strategy in 2022 and provided funding for schools and communities to work together to come up with local solutions to improve the attendance of their ākonga. We are already seeing the benefits of this approach, with attendance rates beginning to increase this year.

We’ve provided support to ākonga and their whanau through wellbeing initiatives such as Ka Ora Ka Ako | Healthy Lunches, Ikura | Manaakitia te whare tangata — free period products and Counselling in Schools.

We’re refreshing the NZ curriculum to make it more relevant, easier to use and more explicit about what ākonga need to understand, know and do. The introduction of core teaching requirements for maths, reading and writing will ensure that every child leaves school with strong foundational skills to set them up for future success.

We’ve reformed the vocational education system, creating a unified system that is able to recognise and deliver to the unique needs of all ākonga and has the flexibility to respond to the changing needs of employers. We’ve significantly increased the number of apprenticeships through programmes such as the Apprenticeship Boost Initiative.

During 2022 we also launched the refreshed New Zealand International Education Strategy. It supports schools and tertiary education providers to rebuild their offerings and looks to develop high-value international education to create a more sustainable and resilient future.

Throughout all these changes, I want to acknowledge the hard work of everyone involved in the education system. The challenges faced by everyone have been unprecedented and I have been heartened by the flexibility and dedication of you all to improve the lives of our ākonga.

I am pleased to present to Parliament Ngā Ara o te Mātauranga – the pathways of education, 2022

Hon Jan Tinetti

Minister of Education