Maharey pushes his junior high schools proposal

Education Minister Steve Maharey will look at introducing more junior high schools to cope with the booming school-age population.

Mr Maharey has asked ministry officials to begin research on middle schools, and to develop proposals he can take to Cabinet.

He is keen to investigate the benefits of the US-based schooling model, which sees students at a junior high from 10 to 14 years old, before going on to a "senior secondary school".

There are six junior highs in New Zealand, all opened within the past 11 years. Mr Maharey has announced plans for two more in the growing Flat Bush area of Auckland, to be built over the next 10 years.

Yesterday, he said the research was needed to know more about "learning and transition" and the most appropriate education for adolescent students.

"It does not mean traditional schools around the country will be superseded. It would be creating a range of schools to meet needs."

However, the Flat Bush plan has drawn criticism from some in the community who say there is no desire for the concept and claim the Ministry of Education has pushed for the new schooling structure.

Mr Maharey admitted yesterday there was "no significant evidence" to show that the current transition from primary to secondary schools at age 11 affected student performance.

Effective teaching was more important than the structures of education.

"But sometimes new structures, such as junior highs, can challenge current ways of teaching and learning, and act as a catalyst for change."

The research would involve a sector reference group and a case study of Albany Junior High, Mr Maharey said.

By 2020, there are expected to be an extra 55,000 school-age children across Auckland - the equivalent of 80 schools.

Growth areas include Albany, the Hibiscus Coast, Hobsonville, Pukekohe and Flat Bush, which Mr Maharey has announced will get seven new schools, including two junior highs, worth $237 million.

But Post-Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) president Debbie Te Whaiti said parents were "wary about locking their children into what is still an experiment".

The community and the taxpayer would be served far better by having well-equipped secondary schools providing specialist subjects.

"While PPTA supports more research into middle schooling, a case study of one new junior high school in a high decile area is simply too narrow to constitute research," she said.

In the Flat Bush community, Baverstock Oaks Primary School principal Mary Wilson said 30 years of research showed junior highs had failed in the United States.

Meanwhile, consultation on new schools in the Takanini area has shown there is "little support" for the concept.

But Mr Maharey said the education system was going to change and while there was no pressure for a "major structural overhaul", it was time for debate on new possibilities.