Principals divided over Asian studies

Palmerston North secondary school principals are divided over whether students should be taught more about Asia to boost future chances of doing business with countries such as China and India.

All but one Palmerston North high school have Asian international students enrolled and have sister schools in Asia, but only half of the principals think it is relevant to include more Asian content in the school curriculum. None offers Mandarin as a language.

Education Minister Anne Tolley said it was vital for schools to be "Asia aware" when designing their curriculum. But an Asia New Zealand study of 258 heads of department from 73 secondary schools found only one-third included Asia-specific topics over the past two years.

Awatapu College principal Tina Sims said it was more relevant than ever to have Asian content.

"Three of the top five economic powers are Asian. For New Zealand it is really important for us to foster an awareness because we are so isolated."

Her school enrols fee-paying students from two schools in Japan and three schools in Vietnam each year as well as students from several other Asian countries.

Social studies, history, geography, tourism and science teachers at the school all included examples from Asia or covered Asian events in their teaching and the school celebrates the Festival of Cultures at the school each year.

Palmerston North Girls' High School principal Melba Scott also thought it was timely to raise students' awareness of Asia.

"Events occurring overseas influence students with what they study and with future careers."

The difficulty was finding Asian case studies and examples that would actually be useful for exam questions, she said.

Freyberg principal Peter Brooks said it was increasingly important to learn about Asia, with an increasing Asian population in schools and in the Palmerston North community. It has a sister school in Japan and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth College principal Michael Houghton said no more emphasis should be put on Asian topics than any other culture. The school took no Asian international students and had no sister school in Asia but held adult classes for people who want to learn English.

"A reasonable proportion of our population have an Asian background and it's important to acknowledge that but in the same way you would any other culture, not just focus on one for the sake of doing it."

St Peter's College deputy principal Catherine Gunn said teachers selected the most appropriate material for learning.

The school had a long-standing relationship with a school in Japan, and 90 per cent of the international fee-paying students were Asian, she said.

Palmerston North Boys' High School rector Tim O'Connor said his teachers would be choosing what they thought was educational and the best material to get the point across.

"We're not turning to Asia for more educational examples, it's not been a point of discussion."

The school has a relationship with schools in Bangkok and a school in Hanoi. About 20 international students from Asia are enrolled in the school.

- © Fairfax NZ News