Our visit to the Ministry of Education left me wondering what New Zealand is doing for their secondary students to help them in the area of career development. There is so much pressure for students that are still in secondary school to take the necessary steps needed to attend university and students, in my opinion are having to choose their career path much sooner. This pressure comes from how they fund tertiary education along with making the decision to take the needed classes to get into tertiary education much sooner. IN the United States our education system “prepares” us for higher education. Obviously the better the education the better students perform on standardized tests. The point is, students, in general are required to take the same kinds of classes (math, science, English, etc). This isn’t necessarily true for New Zealand…the decision to go into tertiary education must be made a couple of years before they are 18 years old. One of the goals of the Ministry of Education is to get more students to level 2 (the base level).
As an academic advisor I work with many students that are undecided (or they choose a major and hate it). The Ministry explained that there is a cap on money, yet there was little talk about what kind of career development is being done in secondary schools to help.
I think it’s amazing that student loans are interest free if students reside in New Zealand after graduation. If a student moves out of New Zealand (basically, to Australia) there is interest placed on the loans. However, with the higher pay in Australia, the amount of interest is easily made up in pay. I remember Bay of Polytechnic talking about “Aussie fear” which is the fear that New Zealand will lose scholars to other countries because of job availability and a better economy. Sounds like they need to raise the interest rate ey?
I feel like the government in New Zealand cares more for its students and understands the importance of tertiary education. However, I”ll be honest, I don’t know a lot about the government. I’m the type of person that just goes with the flow that will pay extra fees if that means I don’t have to read the fine print. I never said that was a good thing, but I’ll admit, it’s hard for me to compare New Zealand’s government to the United States without being more informed about what the U.S. does for loans. However, I know that my loans have interest and I know that I was never given an allowance to live as a student (two things I wish I had) , so I definitely can appreciate what the New Zealand government does for the students.
Another aspect of the education system that I think is a great idea is their teacher education. For those that want to be teachers, they get a degree in an area of study like English or Math and then get post-secondary education in education (before they can teach). IN the U.S. teachers are required to get a Masters after so many years (in some states), but it is not an initial requirement. I think making it harder to become a teacher could definitely have its benefits. The idea is not to increase the number of teachers that we have but to increase the required qualifications to be teachers… I think that would make all the difference.
Overall I believe there are a lot of things that New Zealand is doing right with their education system. The only qualm I have is that career exploration is not a subject that is talked about (which is apparent in the lack of career services offices on campus). If students have only a certain amount of time to obtain their degree (With financial help), I think we need to help they make the best use of that time. However, I don’t think that’s happening quite yet. However, who am I to judge, when in the U.S. it’s an issue too.
I’m not sure what exactly can be done to help, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could implement a careers class in high school or junior high to help students learn about their strengths and things they enjoy and learn about what kind of things they can do. Yes, some exploration needs to be done on their own time, but I don’t think it would hurt to help. Or maybe, financially we benefit from the undecided student that has to stay in school longer
changing major=more requirements=more semesters=more money
I really hope that’s not the case.
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