Sunday 27th May 2001

Only nine in one hundred kids at New Zealand's most destitute schools get a decent mark in fifth form School Certificate, ACT Education Spokesman MP Donna Awatere Huata revealed today.

"Nine out of one hundred kids at decile one schools got an A or B pass in School Certificate last year. At the richest schools, half the kids got an A or B mark.

"School Certificate is the bare minimum our children need to succeed. And yet at the poorest schools, seventy per cent of kids are destined to get a D Grade. What hope do they have?

"You cannot tell me these kids were all destined to be failures. Poor areas produce bright kids, but zoning means children cannot escape the clutch of poverty.

"The Government is robbing bright kids of any future, by forcing them to go to poor schools that perpetuate a cycle of failure," Donna Awatere Huata said.

Proportion of A or B Passes in School Certificate, 2000:

Decile One (poorest) 9.1
Decile Two 13.4
Decile Three 20.1
Decile Four 22.2
Decile Five 25.8
Decile Six 26.2
Decile Seven 29.4
Decile Eight 32.9
Decile Nine 36.7
Decile Ten (wealthiest) 48.1

Proportion of D Grades in School Certificate, 2000:

Decile One (poorest) 67.7
Decile Two 60.1
Decile Three 47.9
Decile Four 46.2
Decile Five 40.9
Decile Six 39.4
Decile Seven 35.2
Decile Eight 33.4
Decile Nine 28.5
Decile Ten (wealthiest) 20.4

Figures obtained from the Minister of Education.

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