Maryanne Spurdle
Auckland, August 2, 2024
Yet another OECD report has painted New Zealand as solidly average.
This year’s Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions asked people if they are satisfied with their national education system. Across 30 countries, an average of 57% of respondents are; 55% of Kiwis said yes.
Get this: 71% of Aussies responded positively. But get this: 71% of Aussies responded positively. Are our neighbours less fussy, or is their education system that different? What do they have in common with high-satisfaction countries that we don’t?
Finland topped the list with 81% satisfied; Switzerland and Denmark boast 76% and 74%. All have decentralised education systems where regions manage operations. In Denmark, municipalities also fund schools up to lower secondary level. Upper secondary schools are centrally funded and self-governing.
In the Netherlands, 71% are satisfied. Both public and private schools are funded equally by the state, and funding depends on outcomes.
Autonomy and Accountability
Fancy that. People are happiest when they have access to autonomous, fully funded schools that are held accountable.
In Australia, 36% of students attend private and Catholic Schools that are heavily subsidised by state and central governments. That sounds like an expensive option until you factor in the contributions that millions of people make in return for school choice. In New South Wales alone, A$ 2.2 billion a year comes from private sources.
Next time someone insists that only the Ministry of Education can improve education, remember this: Parents are more satisfied with schools when educators and communities have more say than bureaucrats, unions, and politicians. And providing meaningful school choice always serves students better.
In New Zealand, some still believe that the introduction of Charter Schools will devastate public schools. In fact, returning some schools to communities and iwi is exactly what public education needs.
Why? Because more than 500 state schools are over-capacity—a massive problem that new Charter Schools will ease. And because in secondary schools, 27% of vacant teaching positions are going unfilled and a growing number of teachers leave the profession mid-career. Independent schools, however, can recruit more broadly and have more liberty to create appealing working conditions.
Benefit to teachers
All teachers benefit when there are enough of them to go around.
And, tragically, because one third of 15-year-olds struggle to read and write. This is not because they can’t learn; it’s because they haven’t had access to the type of education they need.
Rather than worry about publicly funding private operators—which we happily do with services from GP clinics to emergency housing providers—let’s be afraid of imitating Greece. Its centralised education system spends no public funds on independent schools, and it was the least popular in the OECD report: 37% of Greeks are satisfied, 47% are dissatisfied.
Most OECD countries now provide the majority of independent schools’ income, one way or another. This doesn’t just reduce socio-economic gaps in schools; it reflects what parents want. And for their children’s sake, I’m looking forward to the day New Zealand joins them.
Maryanne Spurdle is a Researcher at the Auckland-based Maxim Institute, an independent think tank working to promote the dignity of every person in New Zealand by standing for freedom, justice, compassion, and hope.
