Loss of faith in state sector puts heat on church schools

By RENEE KIRIONA AND NZPA

Integrated schools are being forced to turn away hundreds of students as parents lose faith in state schools.

The rise in student numbers at most of New Zealand's 324 church schools has been such that some parents are enrolling their children at birth in a bid to have them accepted.

The popularity of integrated schools is rising among parents who prefer a religious or philosophical dimension or who want some aspects of a private education without paying private school fees.

The Catholic Education Office said the majority of the 238 schools it represented were either full or very close to it.

A new Catholic school, Sancta Maria College in Botany Heights, Manukau City, opens this week for 450 students in Years 7, 8 and 9, 20 per cent of whom will be non-Catholics.

Catholic Education Office chief executive Brother Pat Lynch said a positive Education Review Office report on Catholic schools had bolstered confidence.

"At a time in the world's history when issues of terror grab headlines, Catholic schools, working with their state counterparts, believe that good will triumph over evil providing young people are taught to respect one another, no matter what their differences happen to be."

Kieran Fouhy, principal of St Peter's College in Epsom, said non-Catholics were showing increasing interest in his school even though they made up only 5 per cent of its 1070 students. "Our first priority is with Catholic families and we've had to turn many non-preferential families away because of that."

Alison Ballantyne, chairwoman of the Anglican Church Schools Board, which represents 14 integrated schools, said parents from all walks of life found such schools attractive. "We are very clear about what we stand for and what we want our children to achieve, which may sound old and outdated but these days parents actually seem to be looking for that," she said.

Integrated schools associated with the Presbyterian and Seventh-Day Adventist churches have also experienced a rise in popularity.

Last year about 11 per cent of all primary and secondary students attended integrated schools.

Such schools receive funding for teaching staff in line with state schools but retain ownership of their grounds and buildings.

However, the Ministry of Education recently put a cap on attendance fees to prevent what it calls "an elitist education system being paid for largely by public funds".

Outside Auckland, schools are also experiencing significant growth.

One of the South Island's best known schools, St Bede's College in Christchurch, turned away almost 100 non-Catholic boys this year.

Rector Justin Boyle said parents wanted their children to have a religious education because it focused on the whole person.