New Government Initiative to Tackle School Suspens
17 April 2001 Media Statement
New Government Initiative to Tackle School Suspensions
Education Minister Trevor Mallard and Associate Education Minister Parekura Horomia today announced a new Government initiative to help schools to deal with the issue of student misbehaviour.
The Minsters said the aim was to reduce the number of students being suspended from school.
The Suspensions Reduction Initiative will bring together clusters of secondary schools in areas that have high rates of student suspension so they can address the issue. The main focus will be to reduce the high proportion of Mäori students being suspended from school.
Up to 18 clusters will be formed, each with between three and six schools, and the Ministry of Education is now inviting schools in areas of high suspension to participate in the initiative.
The Government is putting $1.05 million into the initiative in 2001, rising to $2.1 million in following years.
“This funding will provide support to students, to principals and to school boards, and help them to deal with this growing problem. Some of it will be used to support local initiatives developed by the clusters of schools,” Trevor Mallard said.
"The latest report of school stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions and expulsions show an urgent need to be more pro-active on the issue of school suspensions. (see details attached)
"The previous Government bemoaned the high rate of suspensions and made administrative changes which I supported. But they failed to actually deal with the problem as a grassroots level. We are prepared to help schools tackle the issue," Trevor Mallard said.
Parekura Horomia said the initiative reflects the commitment made at the Hui Taumata Matauranga, a national meeting of Maori educationalists held earlier this year.
"Suspensions were identified by many at the hui as a major area where we needed to work together for improvement.
"Maori are disproportionately represented in suspension statistics and it is vital that Maori be actively involved in designing and delivering programmes that will work to bring these statistics down.
"I look forward to positive changes as a result of this Government's initiative," Parekura Horomia said.
Contacts:
Note: Details from the
latest report of school stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions
and expulsions are attached. Full copies of the report are
available on the Ministry of Education website at
www.minedu.govt.nz
The Suspensions Report (1 January 2000 – 31 December 2000) – Key Points
2.4% of
students were stood down in 2000. There were 16,921
stand-downs in total.
77% of students
stood-down returned to school with no further behaviour
interventions. 14% were stood-down again and 9% were
suspended.
0.7% of students were suspended in
2000. There were 5,108 suspensions in total. 85% of these
students returned to schooling. Of the remainder, 6% left
school, 5% were awaiting enrolment, and outcomes were
unknown for 4%.
About two thirds of students
stood-down and suspended were aged 13 to 15.
74%
of students stood down and suspended were boys.
Maori are over-represented in suspension and stand-down
statistics, compared with the Maori proportion of the
population.
Stand-downs were up by 6% and
suspensions by 5% in the year to December 2000, compared
with the year July 1999 to June 2000.
The Suspensions Reduction Initiative – Key Points
The Suspension
Reduction Initiative will establish clusters of secondary
schools working together to reduce suspensions in their
areas
Up to 18 clusters of schools will be
formed, each involving between 3 and 6 schools. In total,
around 80 schools are expected to participate.
The Ministry will be inviting schools to join and form
clusters.
Funding of $1.05 million in 2001, $2.1
million in following years
Funding will be for
professional development and support for school principals
and boards, student support, and for resourcing local
initiatives.