Foreword

This Government has a vision for a country where all our young people have access to effective education and the ability to achieve at a high standard. We are ambitious for our students and have set a key target that 85% of 18-year-olds will have achieved NCEA1 Level 2 (or an equivalent qualification) by 2017. In 2013, 78.6% of 18-year-olds met this target, continuing the progress seen in previous years and exceeding our forecasts. In the past two years alone nearly 1,600 more of our young people have achieved NCEA 2 by age 18. That is 1,600 young people with a much more positive educational springboard into adult life.

Maintaining high expectations for our students and providing all students with high-quality education and modern learning environments will ensure our young people will be better prepared for further education and employment.

Schools are performing well for many of our students, and progress is being made towards a number of goals set in recent years, but this report shows that there is room for improvement. The spread of achievement of our students is wide. Too many pupils do not reach their full potential because we do not engage and support them in their learning. We have over 760,000 students in education in New Zealand, and we need to ensure that we get it right for every single one.

Our work with schools is supported by public achievement information about students and schools, which identifies gaps and areas of greatest need. We want to ensure that communities and schools have the information required to meet our educational challenges. In 2013 more than 400,000 primary-aged children had their progress assessed against National Standards. This helps identify the children who are not yet doing as well as we want.

The Government’s emphasis will continue to be on lifting educational standards so that the students of today will become the talented adults of tomorrow, contributing to New Zealand’s society and economy in a meaningful way.

I am pleased to present to Parliament New Zealand Schools Ngā Kura o Aotearoa – 2013.

Hon. Hekia Parata
Minister of Education