Louise Upston
We have announced a new pilot for supporting disengaged young people and help them to stay in education longer and achieve better outcomes in life.
The rollout of the new model for delivering learning support will provide more accessible and flexible support to young people to help them realise their full potential. We will be piloting new local responses to better meet the needs of young people at risk of not achieving in education.
Funding alternate education
Young people aged between 13 and 16 who are alienated from mainstream schooling often end up enrolled in alternative education or activity centres.
The Education Ministry funds schools to provide 1888 places in alternative education and 280 activity centre places across the country each year.
The pilot will be carried out at five Communities of Learning to help test the model that will be made available to all schools.
We have stressed that alternative education contracts are in place until December 2018 while the pilot is underway and all young people currently in alternative education and activity centres would continue to be supported.
Louise Upston is Associate Minister of Education of New Zealand
