The Government has announced nine new secondary school subjects on Thursday, designed to help students learn skills for future careers. The subjects included tourism, construction, energy and infrastructure, and hospitality, and would be taught to Year 12 and 13 students from 2029.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said the subjects were being created together with different industries. She said this would help students gain useful knowledge for work, trades, training or university, while also helping businesses find young people with the right skills.
The new subjects would be developed by groups called Industry Skills Boards, which already helped organise training for various industries. Energy and Infrastructure Industry Skills Board chief executive Philip Aldridge said the change would help students see where their studies could lead. Civil Contractors New Zealand chief executive Alan Pollard agreed, saying the subjects would help young people understand the career opportunities in construction.
Secondary Principals Council chairperson Steve McCracken said the change came at an important time, as more students had been leaving school early in recent years. He believed the new subjects could excite students who felt less interested in traditional school subjects. McCracken said reaching the 2029 goal would take a lot of hard work, but he was confident that schools and industry groups could work together to make it happen.
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