Is the Egalitarian Vision of Past NZ Generations Dead?

On the one hand, it's good to know we still have investigate journalists like Kirsty Johnston of  the NZ Herald, though I doubt cynical ostriches like Mike Hosking would read what she writes.   On the other hand, her recent articles on admissions to university courses  are so distressing I'm tempted to become another ostrich. What I don't know can't hurt me.

Kirsty Johnston, investigative journalist.  pn99

The gaps between those  from poor homes or low decile schools and those from the other end of the home/school spectrum make appalling reading. 

Even more distressing is that schooling does not seem to be resolving the situation. The gaps increase as our children progress through school.  At Year 12 there are four times more children from rich homes.  One-half of our children who attended high decline schools go on to university compared with only 17% from low decile schools.



And at university,  getting into the prestigious top-earning Law, Medicine and Engineering courses is even more difficulty. Those from Decile 1 schools account for only 8  of 1,160 students at Auckland's Medical school; 8 out of 1,400 at Vic's Law School and 1 out of 2,000 at Canterbury's Engineering School.

Economist Brian Easton asks, "What would (our) founding 19th century migrants have thought about the fact that New Zealand is now more unequal than the countries they left?"  We are now the 8th most unequal country in the OECD, worse than the UK or Australia.

Click on the hyperlinks to read each article

Want to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer:  don't grow up poor


The Gap Between Rich and Poor at University