Students moving up with STAR programme

Senior secondary students greatly value their STAR experiences and the programme is working well to help them move into employment and training, according to a research report released today by Education Minister Trevor Mallard.

STAR (Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource) aims to help students stay in school and also to assist their transition from school to employment or further training and study.

Schools use STAR funding, worth $28 million annually, to put students through tertiary level courses and work experience/work based learning activities.

“The research found that STAR is operating highly successfully in schools and has become integral to the curriculum rather than an add-on,” Trevor Mallard said.

“STAR successfully supports students by providing work and vocational opportunities. This encourages students to stay on at secondary school, extends them academically and assists in the development of life skills.

“According to the research, the students also appreciated the opportunity to test out study and career options and to get ahead in their tertiary study.

“They also liked being treated as adults.

“STAR's flexibility is its strength. Schools can match courses and industry opportunities to students' individual vocational and academic interests.”

According to the report, most schools (94 per cent) offer industry-related courses and two-thirds provide introductory or ‘taster’ courses to give students opportunities to try different career/study options.

The report, A Constellation of Prospects: A Review of STAR, by New Zealand Council of Education Research (NZCER) researchers Karen Vaughan, Natasha Kenneally and Fiona Beals was released at the NZCER conference in Wellington.

“The Ministry of Education will now assess the report’s findings to see how schools can best be supported in the work they are doing with STAR,” Trevor Mallard said.

The full report is available on http:// http://www.minedu.govt.nz/goto/STARreview

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