Ashburton College principal Ross Preece. Photo supplied.When a Year 13 student leaves school part way through the year for a job, Ashburton College principal Ross Preece counts that as success; the Ministry of Education counts it as a failure.

In his drive to ensure every Year 13 student is engaged in study that is meaningful for them and that qualifies for NCEA level three credits, the college is introducing a range of new vocational subjects for senior students.

“This means we’ll be catering for the significant number of Year 13s who are returning to school for various reasons but who’re not planning to go to university.

If those students leave part way through the year for work then we see that as a success, but to the ministry it’s a fail for us,” Preece said.

The fail mark comes because the student does not achieve NCEA level three.

For the college, it was a priority to keep students at school rather than disengage with education and leave without a job or a career path, he said.

“This gives them time to make up their minds about what they want to do and gives them a chance to get level three.

We want our students to be engaged and have a meaningful timetable.”

The college currently offers some vocational subjects such as agriculture, trades and hair and beauty but will add furniture manufacturing, hospitality, construction and possibly more to next year’s Year 13 subject list.

In broadening what it offers the college, and many other secondary schools, faced some opposition from polytechnics as the subjects they were including were often a cross-over with polytech subjects, Preece said.

“Understandably they want the students to do that study and qualify with them and all schools are finding it a bit difficult to work through this.”

The college starts its expanded year 13 subject range next year and Preece says the move is long overdue.

Expanding the curriculum does not come with a cash injection from the Ministry of Education, and schools electing to do this have to staff those classes within set budgets.

By Sue Newman © The Ashburton Guardian - 1 July 2017