Significant benefits from Schools Plus

Education Minister Chris Carter says the government’s recently-announced Realising Youth Potential initiative, to be known as Schools Plus, will significantly boost the economy and increase prospects for young New Zealanders.

“By empowering our children through education we are giving them a positive attitude toward learning and more choice about what their future will be.

“Investing in our children’s future means we are investing in our country’s future.
Schools Plus will result in more students participating in education or workplace training, and more students gaining higher qualifications,” Chris Carter said.

The Labour-led government was committed to providing schools with the resources necessary to help all young people realise their potential.

“Schools will be able to offer more specialised career advice, develop partnerships with their communities, and closely monitor student outcomes.

“Professional development for teachers will be available to ensure a high quality teaching workforce meets the varying needs of students in our fast changing world,” Chris Carter said.

Under Schools Plus, the school of the future will be the base from which young people begin youth apprenticeships, obtain work skills or continue with programmes of work that lead to university or tertiary education. Schools Plus will require strong partnerships between schools, employers, tertiary institutions and communities.

“We need to build on the initiatives already underway to provide a richer range of learning opportunities both within school and beyond the classroom. Greater flexibility in the education and training sectors will motivate students to seek qualifications that are relevant and meet their aspirations,” said Chris Carter.

Details of a two-month consultation process being run by the Ministry of Education will be released shortly.

School plus FAQs (130208).doc (doc, 32 Kb)
Schools Plus key points (130208).doc (doc, 28 Kb)