00:00:07
Speaker 1: To the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald from Newstalk ZB.
00:00:13
Speaker 2: If a 16-year-old, consider this, if a 16-year-old doesn't want to be at school anymore, do you think it's worth forcing them to stay until they've completed year 11? At the moment, they can leave. As soon as they turn 16, so you have a birthday in March, if you're in year 11, you can leave. But National has announced that if it's re-elected, It'll make it compulsory for students to stay until the end of year 11, irrespective of when they turn 16. Erica Stanford, the party's education spokesperson, she says 16-year-olds shouldn't be quitting school with, quote, nothing to do but sit on the couch. End of quote. The thing is, though, if a 16-year-old just isn't interested in school, should they be forced to stay? Should you tell them, no, no, no, No choice.
00:01:08
Speaker 1: You're here.
00:01:09
Speaker 2: You're there. You're not going anywhere. And my answer to that question is, no, they shouldn't. They shouldn't be forced, which I'm basing on my own personal experience. When I was in year 11, or fifth form as it was then, which I'll get to, but I can see what National's trying to do with this policy, and I like the objective. I'm not writing the objective off. because as my kids were saying to me yesterday, if someone has to stay until the end of year 11, they will hopefully walk out the door with NCEA level 1, even if that's the only qualification someone has, at the moment anyway, because remember too, the government plans to get rid of NCEA, but this would still be a qualification of some sort, irrespective of whether it's NCEA or not, or not if they had to stay until the end of year 11, which is what Brendan Crompton from Blue Light Ventures, which runs mentoring programs for young people, that's what he was getting at too when he spoke to Mike earlier, he likes National's idea and describes the current NCEA Level 1 as something everybody needs to be an adult.
00:02:23
Speaker 1: We're talking about basic English and maths qualification, the stuff that you need to write an email, to do a CV, to do budgeting. It's a great idea. Obviously difficult for kids who definitely want to disengage, makes it a bit harder, but certainly empowers parents as well to say to kids, hey, you need to stay, finish the year, get a qualification.
00:02:42
Speaker 2: But you don't just get it for turning up. You have to put the work in, don't you? And chances are, if someone has pretty much given up on school altogether, they're not going to put that work in, are they? And I'm not just saying that because I'm talking from experience. I know what it's like. I know what it is like being someone who has given up on school. When I was in my school cert year, the fifth form, or year 11 as it is now, I could not wait to get out of there. Couldn't wait. I was so disinterested. I scraped through school cert. I passed three subjects. I failed two. I was abysmal My parents could see what was going on, and they let me leave school and work for them in their wee shop. The thing was, a year down the track, they had an offer for the shop that they couldn't refuse, so there was I out of a job. And that was when they suggested going back to school, to a different one. And I did, and it turned my life around. But I know that if I'd been forced to stay at the old school when I didn't want to be there, I know how pear-shaped things would have gone for me. The other thing, too, as long as we have NCEA, and look, bearing in mind that there will be changes, but as long as we have NCEA, not every school is going to offer the Level 1 qualification. That's because it's not compulsory. So, you know, if someone turns 16 in May, for example, what's the use of forcing them to stay at school until the end of the year, whether they're at a school that offers Level 1 or not? But the biggest question, the bigger question is, what's the use of forcing them to stay at school if school is the last place they want to be?
Speaker 1: To the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald from Newstalk ZB.
00:00:13
Speaker 2: If a 16-year-old, consider this, if a 16-year-old doesn't want to be at school anymore, do you think it's worth forcing them to stay until they've completed year 11? At the moment, they can leave. As soon as they turn 16, so you have a birthday in March, if you're in year 11, you can leave. But National has announced that if it's re-elected, It'll make it compulsory for students to stay until the end of year 11, irrespective of when they turn 16. Erica Stanford, the party's education spokesperson, she says 16-year-olds shouldn't be quitting school with, quote, nothing to do but sit on the couch. End of quote. The thing is, though, if a 16-year-old just isn't interested in school, should they be forced to stay? Should you tell them, no, no, no, No choice.
00:01:08
Speaker 1: You're here.
00:01:09
Speaker 2: You're there. You're not going anywhere. And my answer to that question is, no, they shouldn't. They shouldn't be forced, which I'm basing on my own personal experience. When I was in year 11, or fifth form as it was then, which I'll get to, but I can see what National's trying to do with this policy, and I like the objective. I'm not writing the objective off. because as my kids were saying to me yesterday, if someone has to stay until the end of year 11, they will hopefully walk out the door with NCEA level 1, even if that's the only qualification someone has, at the moment anyway, because remember too, the government plans to get rid of NCEA, but this would still be a qualification of some sort, irrespective of whether it's NCEA or not, or not if they had to stay until the end of year 11, which is what Brendan Crompton from Blue Light Ventures, which runs mentoring programs for young people, that's what he was getting at too when he spoke to Mike earlier, he likes National's idea and describes the current NCEA Level 1 as something everybody needs to be an adult.
00:02:23
Speaker 1: We're talking about basic English and maths qualification, the stuff that you need to write an email, to do a CV, to do budgeting. It's a great idea. Obviously difficult for kids who definitely want to disengage, makes it a bit harder, but certainly empowers parents as well to say to kids, hey, you need to stay, finish the year, get a qualification.
00:02:42
Speaker 2: But you don't just get it for turning up. You have to put the work in, don't you? And chances are, if someone has pretty much given up on school altogether, they're not going to put that work in, are they? And I'm not just saying that because I'm talking from experience. I know what it's like. I know what it is like being someone who has given up on school. When I was in my school cert year, the fifth form, or year 11 as it is now, I could not wait to get out of there. Couldn't wait. I was so disinterested. I scraped through school cert. I passed three subjects. I failed two. I was abysmal My parents could see what was going on, and they let me leave school and work for them in their wee shop. The thing was, a year down the track, they had an offer for the shop that they couldn't refuse, so there was I out of a job. And that was when they suggested going back to school, to a different one. And I did, and it turned my life around. But I know that if I'd been forced to stay at the old school when I didn't want to be there, I know how pear-shaped things would have gone for me. The other thing, too, as long as we have NCEA, and look, bearing in mind that there will be changes, but as long as we have NCEA, not every school is going to offer the Level 1 qualification. That's because it's not compulsory. So, you know, if someone turns 16 in May, for example, what's the use of forcing them to stay at school until the end of the year, whether they're at a school that offers Level 1 or not? But the biggest question, the bigger question is, what's the use of forcing them to stay at school if school is the last place they want to be?
