Many of the students enrolled with Te Kura are incapable of working online without significant support, says a whistleblower. File photo. Photo: 123RF
Te Kura says 35 percent of its more than 6000 at-risk students have not returned any work this year.
A whistleblower told RNZ as many as three-quarters of the school's students that they worked were doing nothing.
Te Kura said about a third of the students who had not returned any work were still considered to be engaged.
It said it was misleading to suggest they were doing nothing.
However, several teachers and parents told RNZ many of the young people enrolled with the school were doing little or no learning and struggled to learn at a distance.
A person with with first-hand knowledge of Te Kura's work with at-risk students said many had no computer skills and were incapable of working online without significant support.
They said there was little support for the students and the situation was "an unseen and developing educational crisis".
"You are not going to turn these kids around unless there's effort from somebody," they said.
Figures provided to RNZ by Te Kura showed 60 percent of its full-time at-risk students did not achieve any internally assessed NCEA credits last year.
However, the figures also showed slight improvements in achievement rates compared with previous years.
Most of the students were referred by the Education Ministry because they refused to enrol in regular schools.
"Over the course of a typical year, we see referrals from nearly every secondary and intermediate school in New Zealand, as well as some primary schools," it said.
Te Kura told RNZ it currently had 8220 full-time students including 6256 or 76 percent who were enrolled following referral by the Education Ministry or Oranga Tamariki and were considered at-risk.
That was up from a roll of 4000 full-time students in 2013, of which 61 percent or 2440 were considered at-risk.
Te Kura said last year 39 percent of the full-time students enrolled through referrals achieved internally-assessed NCEA credits, up from 34 percent in 2022.
"Referred ākonga often face significant barriers to learning, but we're proud of the progress many have made. Depending on the circumstances earning NCEA credits may not be a priority for some referred ākonga, who are generally under the age of 16," it said.
It said 40 percent of its full-time referred secondary-aged school leavers last year left Te Kura with no NCEA credits, but only 24 percent had completed an entire NCEA qualification.
"Many students leave Te Kura around their 16th birthday, often having spent less than a year on the roll, which impacts their ability to earn credits," it said.
Te Kura said the funding it received to support at-risk students would more than double from $1050 per student last year to $3500 by 2026.
It said so far this year 23 percent of the at-risk students had not completed any work or attended online classes or face-to-face learning sessions and were deemed by their supervisors to be not engaged. That was down from 24 percent last year and 29 percent in 2022.
Te Kura said students who did not return any work could still be regarded as "engaged" with the school if their teacher knew they had work under way, or if they attended live online classes or face-to-face "Huinga Ako".
"This process is robustly moderated by Te Kura team leaders, and simply responding to phone calls or emails from their kaiako would not normally meet the criteria to record them as engaged," it said.
The Education Review Office reported in 2021 that education agencies were increasingly relying on Te Kura to take at-risk students and those students required intensive support that the school struggled to provide.
"Te Kura is stretched in doing this in relation to being a distance provider and with the resources available to it under current policy and funding settings," the review office said at the time.
ERO told RNZ it would review Te Kura again next year.
"Our review will look closely at the progress made towards the recommendations in our 2021 report. Following our last report, Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu received additional funding in Budget 2022 to scale up support for at-risk students. Our review will include looking at the impact this funding increase has had on this group of learners," it said.
Not a dumpingg ground - Minister
Erica Stanford Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Education Minister Erica Stanford told RNZ she did not believe Te Kura was being used as a dumping ground for at-risk students.
She said achievement varied in any school.
"There are some children who do very well in Te Kura, there will be some who won't be, exactly the same as in the mainstream education system."
Meanwhile, Stanford said she was developing a plan for learning support, including alternative education, which was another destination for at-risk teenagers.
"Alternative education is not working in this country so we need to make some different decisions," she said.
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