Primary and Secondary Education
Education is free and compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16, although in very special cases an exemption can be gained after applying to the Ministry Of Education (MOE). These may be granted to students who are close to 16, have been experiencing some ongoing difficulty at school, and have a job already lined up. Families wishing to home educate their children can apply for exemption. To get an exemption from enrollment at a registered school, they must satisfy the Secretary of Education that their child will be taught "as regularly and as well as in a registered school".
Children almost always start school on their 5th birthday, or the first School Day after it. Many children attend some form of early childhood education before they begin school such as:
- Playcentre (birth to school age)
- Kindergarten (ages 3–5)
- Kohanga Reo,
- Licensed Early Childhood Centres (ages 0–5) (usually privately owned)
- Chartered Early Childhood Centres (ages 0–5) (state funded)
Free primary and secondary education is a right for all New Zealand citizens and permanent residents from a student's fifth birthday until the end of the calendar year following the student's 19th birthday, and is compulsory for students between the ages of 6 and 16 (15 with parental and school permission). A recent proposal by the New Zealand Government, called Schools Plus, would see students required to remain in some form of education until age 18. Disabled students with special educational needs can stay until the end of the calendar year they turn 21.
Most students start when they turn 5, and remain in school for the full 13 years. Students living more than 5 kilometres walking distance from the nearest school (or public transport to school) may be exempted from attending school but may be required to enrol in a correspondence school. Many schools contract public transport operators to provide school buses that deliver students to the school gate in the morning and home again at the end of the school day.
Read more about this topic: Education In New Zealand
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