More school choice and flexibility the way to help our under-achievers
The large number of under-achieving kiwi students highlighted by the OECD this week shows the need for more flexibility
and choice for parents to get students into schools and styles of learning that best suit their needs, says the
Education Forum.
Chairman Byron Bentley said parents needed the right to be able to more freely choose their children's school, so
under-achieving students could go where their learning styles were best accommodated.
"If zoning was abolished, for example, low-income families would be able to move their children to schools that suited
them better instead of being stuck in areas where they may not have access to educational diversity. But more than no
zoning, what is really needed is a neutral funding system where the funding follows the child. This would truly allow
parents to enrol their children at the school of their choice."
The early childhood and tertiary education sectors had more neutral funding and their successes were evident. They had
more diversity and students had better access to quality education.
Mr Bentley said more autonomy for schools would also go a long way to helping improve academic results for low
achievers.
"Give schools more autonomy and make them accountable for their results and there is no doubt we'd see results improve."
The OECD's PISA survey released yesterday compared the performance of 475,000 15-year-olds from 65 countries in reading
literacy, maths and science. New Zealand's top students were shown to be doing very well but there was a
disproportionately long tail of under-achievers.
ENDS