Source: Radio New Zealand
AFP
The head of the science teachers association says Year 11 students could benefit from compulsory science lessons.
The government is considering making the subject mandatory, along with English and maths, when it abolishes NCEA level one in 2028.
Jayatheeswaran Vijayakumar, who is also head of science at Edgewater College, told RNZ compulsory Year 11 science could help more teens into careers in science and technology.
He said it would also ensure young people were better prepared to be science-literate citizens.
But he said there was a strong risk some students would be bored.
“If learners’ experiences are irrelevant or overtly academic, they might not necessarily engage with the learning and then we could have high levels of disengagement,” he said.
“If it’s poorly designed, it could actually reinforce some of the inequities that already exist in STEM pathways and this could really disenfranchise more learners from taking science.”
Vijayakumar said making science compulsory at Year 11 would require good teachers and resourcing.
Education Ministry figures indicated most Year 11 students already studied science.
They showed there were 69,108 Year 11 students in 2025 with 45,500 enrolled in science, 3426 in physics, 2404 in chemistry and 3507 in biology.
Vijayakumar said students had to actively opt out of the subject at his current school, but at his previous school it was optional.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
