NZ lags in OECD education survey

The Government is playing a "high-risk" game with sustained underinvestment in education, university vice-chancellors say.

A new Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report shows annual student spending in New Zealand is below average across primary, secondary and tertiary education.

The total amount New Zealand spent per student on their primary and secondary education was $103,000, compared with about $137,000 in Australia and $147,000 in Britain. The OECD average was $134,000.

New Zealand spent just over $13,000 per tertiary student annually, while Australia and Britain spent about $21,500 and the United States more than $36,000.

The figures have been adjusted to eliminate purchasing-power differences between countries.

Despite the disparities in investment, New Zealand had high levels of educational attainment.

Twenty-five per cent of working-age Kiwis had a degree-level qualification, compared with 24 per cent in Australia and 22 per cent in Britain.

More than 40 per cent of Kiwis had some sort of tertiary qualification, compared with 34 per cent in Australia and 32 per cent in Britain.

New Zealand vice-chancellors' committee deputy chairman Derek McCormack warned of a bleak future for universities if disparities in investment persisted.

He said that while New Zealand universities were performing well on tight budgets, the ability to maintain that level of performance was doubtful if underfunding continued.

In a decade, they could be struggling to attract the high-quality staff necessary to turn out top graduates, he said.

Elite students could start heading overseas for their tertiary education and would possibly not return home, resulting in a major loss of talent, he said. "It's a high risk, particularly now."

Vice-chancellors were in talks with the Government on maintaining quality in education. They wanted a review of restraints on fee-setting, he said.

The report showed Kiwis paid relatively low fees for degree-level qualifications, with an average of $4000 per year, compared with $5800 in Australia and $8100 in the US.

Education Minister Anne Tolley said the OECD figures were misleading as New Zealand spent heavily on education in relation to gross domestic product (GDP).

New Zealand spends 6.3 per cent of GDP on education, compared with 5.9 per cent in Britain and 6.5 per cent in Canada.

Education spending, as a percentage of public expenditure, was second-highest across all 30 OECD countries, she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News