What's in this Chapter?

  • Participation in early childhood education
  • School participation
  • Qualification levels
  • Skill and job match
  • Career training
  • Maori wellbeing

For full data and details, graphs etc, refer to the chapter pdf »

Key Results - Knowledge & Skills

  • Participation levels in early childhood education (ECE) have increased in the 12 cities over the last five years.
  • The majority of ECE participation takes place in a kindergarten, playcentre, education and care service or home-based locations.
  • 15.8% of Pacific Islands children do not attend an ECE centre.
  • Maori and Pacific Islands students continue to be overrepresented in school stand-down, suspension and exclusion figures.
  • There has been an increase in the truancy rate and students receiving early leaving exemptions in most of the 12 cities.
  • There has been a notable increase throughout New Zealand of people holding a vocational or degree qualification.
  • Nationally there has been a decline in the percentage of school leavers with low qualification attainment, from 15.3% in 2003 to 11.1% in 2006.
  • Nationally, 22.6% of school leavers in New Zealand do not have National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 1 credits in literacy and numeracy.
  • The majority of New Zealand residents say they are using their work skills, training and experience in their current jobs.
  • There has been an increase, both nationally and in the 12 cities, in the number of active trainees in industrial training and modern apprenticeships from 2004 to 2006.

 

Knowledge and Skills

This chapter provides an overview of the state of educational participation and achievement in our cities. Understanding the state of education provides an insight into the knowledge and skills of residents and how they can apply these to improve their quality of life.

Why this is Important

Educational achievement is essential for effective participation in society. Increasingly, urban societies
are becoming knowledge-based and urban economies require innovative solutions to meet market demands. People’s ability to up-skill and re-skill during their working lives is important if they are to keep pace with rapidly changing work environments. Access to life-long learning opportunities is also related to people’s need for selffulfilment and self-determination.

Key Points

Participation in early childhood education has increased overall in the 12 cities. However, levels of attendance still remain low in Manukau and for Maori and Pacific Islands children.

Maori and Pacific Islands students are over-represented in school stand-down, suspension, exclusion and truancy figures.

Nationally, 22.6% of school leavers do not have National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level one credits in literacy and numeracy.

Across the 12 cities there has been growth in the percentage of people who have an educational qualification. In the cities, people are less likely to have no qualifications compared with those in the rest of New Zealand.

There has also been an increase in the number of active trainees in industrial training and modern apprenticeships from 2004 to 2006.

Participation in early childhood education

  • Participation levels in early childhood education have increased in the 12 cities over the last five years.
  • Manukau has the lowest attendance level of the 12 cities.
  • The majority of early childhood education participation takes place in a kindergarten, playcentre, education and care service or home-based locations.
  • Almost one in five Pacific Islands children do not attend an early childhood education centre.

School Participation

  • Maori and Pacific Islands students continue to be over-represented in stand-down, suspension and exclusion figures.
  • There has been an increase in the truancy rate recorded in many of the 12 cities.
  • There has been an increase across the 12 cities in students receiving early leaving exemptions.

Qualification Levels

  • There has been a notable increase throughout New Zealand of people with a vocational or degree qualification.
  • Nationally, there has been a decline in the percentage of school leavers with low attainment.
  • In New Zealand, almost a quarter of school leavers do not have National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level one credits in literacy and numeracy.

Skill and Job Match

  • The majority of New Zealand residents say the use their work skills, training and experience in their current jobs.
  • Nationally, those in professional occupations have the highest percentage of masters and doctorate degrees.

Career Training

  • There has been an increase both nationally and in the 12 cities, in the number of active trainees in industrial training and modern apprenticeships.