Un Education Report

As a small but well-developed nation, New Zealand is doing an excellent job of meeting the educational goals of the United Nations. The Global Education First Initiative includes three priorities: to put every child in school, to improve the quality of learning, and to foster global citizenship (UNESCO). In regard to the first priority, New Zealand still has some work to do, as 5,637 children remain out of primary school, according to Figure 1 (The World Bank). To put those children in context, however, they constitute less than 0.001% of the 57 million children in the world who are out of primary school. This first priority aligns with the second goal of the UN’s Millennium Project, which aims to achieve universal primary education (​UN Department of Public Information, 2013)​. This goal was unfortunately not met by 2015 and remains to come to full fruition, but significant progress has certainly been made. Additionally, New Zealand enrolls more students in secondary school than much of the rest of the world. In 2016, New Zealand’s net enrollment for secondary school was 96%, while the world’s net enrollment for secondary school was only 66%, as is seen in Figure 2 (​UNESCO Institute for Statistics)​. New Zealand’s success in enrolling children in schools is in large part due to the fact that primary and secondary education in New Zealand is free and compulsory (Ministry of Education, 2019). In regard to the second priority of the GEFI, New Zealand strives to teach above and beyond basic literacy and numeracy. Some of their goals for providing a high-quality education to all include: creating strong cultural identities, inspiring children to achieve more, providing choices and opportunities, engaging citizens in their civic responsibilities, and competing globally (Ministry of Education, 2018). This well-rounded vision should serve as an example to all countries. Our world’s children deserve that extra mile. New Zealand’s educational system

fosters growth and development, critical thinking, problem solving, and empathy that we need to foster worldwide. In regard to the third priority of the GEFI, New Zealand works hard to develop global citizens and leaders. New Zealand’s emphasis on the global perspective is the key to its strong communities (Education New Zealand, 2016). Citizens and politicians alike demonstrated extreme compassion and resilience in response to the recent terrorist attack Christchurch, leading dialogues, art, vigils, fundraisers, prayers, and various other events and gatherings around the country. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern responded to the attacks immediately, emphasizing that New Zealand is no place for xenophobia and Islamophobia, reminding migrants and refugees that they are welcome in New Zealand, and banning military style semi-automatic weapons as well as assault rifles (Global Citizen, 2019). Such powerful reactions are uncommon in countries where divisive borders are prioritized over global citizenship, such as in the United States. The UN’s fourth Sustainable Development Goal is closely related to their Global Education First Initiative, as it advocates quality education globally (​United Nations Development Programme)​. To provide international quality education, this Sustainable Development Goal specifically promotes the universal completion of free primary and secondary school, equal access to affordable vocational training, no disparities due to gender or wealth, and universal access to quality higher education. The UN recognizes that these may appear to be rather lofty goals, hence they do not expect to achieve them all until 2030. Still, New Zealand is leading the way with free primary and secondary schools, little disparity due to gender or wealth, and high quality institutions for higher education. New Zealand has some work to do, but as of

now is in a good place to act as a role model and to help uplift the countries which are finding the UN’s educational goals more difficult to meet.

Figure 1.​ New Zealand Education Statistics, including the number of out of school children of primary school age (The World Bank).

Figure 2.​ ​School enrollment, secondary (% net), comparing New Zealand and the world average (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).

Works Cited Education New Zealand. (2016). Welcome to Education New Zealand. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from ​https://enz.govt.nz/ Global Citizen. (2019). At Least 49 Dead in New Zealand Terror Attack on 2 Mosques. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/new-zealand-terror-attack-on-mosques/ Ministry of Education. (2019, January 03). Education in New Zealand. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/our-role-and-our-people/education-in-nz/#prima ry Ministry of Education. (2018, November 22). Our purpose and vision. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/our-role-and-our-people/our-purpose-and-vision / The World Bank. Education Statistics (EdStats). (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2019, from http://datatopics.worldbank.org/education/country/new-zealand UN Department of Public Information. (2013, September). Goal 2 Fact Sheet. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from ​https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Goal_2_fs.pdf UNESCO. Priorities. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2019, from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/gefi/priorities/

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (n.d.). School enrollment, secondary (% net). Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.NENR?locations=NZ-1W&view=chart United Nations Development Programme. (2019). Goal 4: Quality education. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-4-quali ty-education.html