Great progress made towards education targets

Education Minister Hekia Parata says the latest Better Public Services (BPS) results show the government is making great progress towards its education targets.

Early childhood education (ECE) participation rose to 96.1 per cent in the year to December 2014. This is the highest ever level and shows that the government is tracking well towards its target that in 2016, 98 per cent of children will have participated in ECE before starting school.

“Participation rates for Māori and Pasifika children in ECE continue to rise faster than the overall increase. Since December 2012, participation has risen by 2.3 percentage points for Māori children and 3.4 percentage points for Pasifika children,” says Ms Parata.

“All our kids deserve the best start in life and we know that regular participation in ECE gives them a greater chance of educational success, which is why we set such an ambitious target.

“The closer we get to reaching our targets, the more challenging it is to make significant gains, but this is a challenge we accept,” she says.

The government’s NCEA Level 2 target is that in 2017, 85 per cent of all 18 year olds will have this qualification or an equivalent.

“Final NCEA Level 2 results are not yet available, but we expect that the results will show progress towards our target.

“This is an exciting year for education and these BPS results show how committed the government is to ensuring all kids achieve educational success. They also show how hard kids, parents, teachers and principals are working and I would like to acknowledge them for that.”