2,000 more boys than girls leave school without qualification
The disparity between girls’ and boys’ achievement in the classroom continues, with new figures revealing that more than
2,000 more boys than girls leave school without even a basic qualification, says National Party Education spokesman,
Bill English.
He has released figures showing that 27% of all students leave school without achieving the NCEA level 1 qualification –
the equivalent of the old School Certificate. Almost three out of five of those students are male.
“Almost 14,000 boys leave school with just Level 1 NCEA or less. Any student knows that leaving school with a Level 1
pass means limited choices and difficult access to tertiary education and training.
“There is a similar disparity between girls and boys achieving University Entrance.
“Of all those achieving UE, 57.2% are girls, and 42.8% are boys. This disparity is the main reason a growing proportion
of university students are female.
“These differences are so stark they cannot be swept under the carpet.
“I look forward to education experts explaining the large difference between the achievement of boys and girls in NCEA.”
Ends