WelCom February/March 2025
Dr Kevin Shore, CEO NZ Catholic Education Office, CEO Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools
A very important milestone in 2025 is that our Catholic state integrated schools are celebrating fifty years since the signing of the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act (PSCIA) in 1975. Our wonderful Catholic education system would not exist today without the sacrifice, generosity and willingness by many individuals and groups within the Church, as well as the government and education interest groups who put aside their differences to ensure in signing the PSCIA, and Catholic schools were able to provide an education that was at least equal to state schools. The rest as they say is history. Our Catholic education stakeholders have much to thank Prime Minister Norman Kirk and the politicians of the time who put the interests of parents and students in the private school system ahead of the pervading education and political philosophies of the time.
I would like to think the ongoing government funds provided to operate our state integrated schools in Aotearoa has been a sound investment for the state. By ensuring Catholic character could be imbued across all aspects of the school, students have been given every opportunity to grow in their own personal relationship with Christ and develop a set of beliefs and values that uphold the dignity of each person and contribute positively to our society. Since 1975, our schools have moved from a position of education deficit to the current point in time where our Catholic schools are known for their outstanding pastoral and achievement outcomes.
Teachers and special character
However there are challenges, in maintaining such a wonderful system into the future. Like many international countries, it is becoming much harder to find teachers who can be tagged in special character positions in our Catholic schools. Our schools need teachers who are connected and committed to their faith to be able to provide an authentic Catholic education. Not only is there a current shortage of teachers but given that 60 per cent of primary teaching roles and 40 per cent of secondary teachers in Catholic schools must hold a special character position it has not been easy for some our Catholic schools to meet these requirements. Many schools are doing a good job of growing staff within their own schools to take on these roles but it is challenging and a potential threat to our system.
Leadership
The second challenge is ensuring the system continues to prepare and support staff for leadership roles in Catholic schools. The turnover of school leaders in both the state and state integrated sector is relatively high and some Catholic school boards are concerned that there is not always a strong pool of candidates to choose from. The good news here is that in our Catholic national leadership programmes we are getting strong support from the sector and the current National Catholic Aspiring Leaders Programme has almost 50 participants preparing for a leadership role in our Catholic schools.
[For information about the National Catholic Aspiring Leaders Programme, visit tinyurl.com/nzceo-aspiring-leaders-2025].
Demand for Catholic schools high
More good news is that demand for places in our Catholic schools remains high and overall, our national Catholic student roll in 2024 rose by about 1500 students. In terms of preference of enrolment, 70 per cent of students in our Catholic schools are either baptised or undertaking preparation for baptism with a further 13 per cent coming from a family where at least one parent is baptised. Our schools and parishes are working together to encourage those students and families where the child is not baptised to participate in a sacramental programme.
Our Catholic schools remain a key player in the Church’s Mission of bringing the message of Jesus Christ to the world.
