Schools are brewing up trouble

Students at secondary schools who brew beer and wine in the classroom to satisfy NCEA requirements are breaking the law - but only because they aren't paying alcohol tax.

Many colleges around the country carry out home brew experiments as part of the NCEA science course, with students too young to pull a pint in a pub making alcohol.

The practice has come under fire from the Alcohol Advisory Council for sending the wrong message to children and making alcohol even more accessible.

Chief executive Mike MacAvoy said it was "sad" and "symptomatic of New Zealand's poor attitude to alcohol" that schools would choose to experiment with alcohol rather than other similar live organisms such as ginger beer.

"It seems unnecessary for alcohol to infiltrate every single aspect of life quite so prevalently when many of the kids in class can't even legally buy alcohol."

Schools are defending the use of alcohol for teaching, saying students learn valuable chemical processes which could inspire them to join one of New Zealand's biggest industries.

But schools, unlike those who brew in the privacy of their own homes, aren't exempt from paying tax on each bottle made.

Customs is currently working with the Ministry of Education on the issue.

New Zealand Association of Science Educators president Ian Milne said schools should be exempt from paying excise duty for producing what were "insignificant" amounts of alcohol. "It's like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

"It will create more compliance costs for schools already burdened by regulatory hurdles," he said.

Western Springs College science teacher Allayne Ferguson, who has previously carried out the experiments with her Year 12 chemistry students and is working with NZASE to try to resolve the issue, said that during the lessons students were also taught about the health and social repercussions of alcohol as well as the marketing side of the industry.

The wine, along with food made by students, was later sampled by the parents and pupils at a get-together, she said, adding that the imposition of excise duty on schools would be a disincentive to continuing the valuable experiments.

"The point is not to make a lot of alcohol but to get them to use the processes in what is a lucrative industry and steering them towards potential career pathways.

"It's about making chemistry relevant. The kids were more interested in the alchemy involved.

"The parents were the ones most interested in the drinking."

- Herald on Sunday