Dropouts get chance to work from home

By STUART DYE, education reporter

School dropouts will be given internet at home and access to mentors in a pilot scheme to get the country's most disaffected teenagers back into education.

From next month 100 students in Auckland and Wellington will become involved in the $2.5 million programme called Notschool.net.

The online learning scheme will be available to 13- to 16-year-olds and, if successful, will be extended around the country. Young people who are not at school or not achieving well will be allowed to work online from home 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Mentors and subject experts will encourage and guide the students, and they will be able to talk in a secure chatroom with others in the programme.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard said Notschool.net was an innovative approach to learning with "a track record of improving outcomes for significantly disadvantaged students".

"Through this pilot we want to extend new learning opportunities for our most at-risk students and take stock of what works best for them."

Notschool.net is based on a scheme introduced in Britain four years ago. Latest figures show the rate of dropout is low, with around 99 per cent of participants achieving formal accreditation at nationally recognised levels by the time they reach school leaving age.

In New Zealand, the most recent Ministry of Education survey showed that on any given day secondary schools had an absence rate of 11.9 per cent and a truancy rate of 6 per cent, although truancy rates had improved slightly over the past few years.

But last year alone, 6499 children were referred to the Non-Enrolment Truancy Service - the last stop to find children who have dropped out of the education system.

The scheme will be launched here next month, when students will be given information communication technology (ICT) equipment and a fast internet connection in their homes to help learning.

Mr Mallard said: "Ultimately, we want to extend the range of alternative education options currently available, and further develop knowledge around the use of ICT in delivering effective distance learning."