Mark Bruce-Miller: Whenua Iti Outdoors CEO on the Government's curriculum changes, rising number of kids dropping out of school

There’s a concern the Government’s school shakeup could drive more students to drop out early.  

New data shows that over 1,300 students were granted an early leaving exemption last year – the highest since 2007. 

The Government is proposing to remove subjects from senior school general subject list, reclassifying them as a limited vocational option – one being Outdoor Education. 

Whenua Iti Outdoors CEO Mark Bruce-Miller told Ryan Bridge that outdoor education allows all students flourish in areas that are difficult to work on within a classroom environment, such as teamwork, leadership, communication, resilience, and initiative.  

He says students need to be as well-rounded as possible when leaving school, and removing outdoor education from the list means some students won’t get those benefits. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Concern this morning that the governments change up for the
school curriculum could drive more students to drop out Early
New data release to News Talk ZBS shows nearly fourteen
hundred and fifteen year olds got exemptions to leave last year,
the highest since two thousand and seven. But the good
news is ninety percent of them continued to study outside school,
and that was largely with Tapoo Kinger teaching two fifteen

(00:21):
year olds in some capacity last year. Bruce Sorry, Mark
Bruce Miller is the CEO of Feno et Outdoors joins
us this morning. Mark, Good morning, Good morning. Right, school's
not for everyone if they are going elsewhere to study
or work, is it a problem?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
No, not at all. I think we have to recognize
the school isn't for everyone, but school also needs to
be a place where all learners can thrive and where
all earners can feel success.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
What's your issue? Because they're wanting to take outdoor read
from the Senior School General subject list. Why is that
a problem?

Speaker 2 (00:56):
That's a big problem for us? We, as a specialist
in outdoor education, consistently demonstrate that outdoor ed allows all
students to flourish in areas that are difficult to work
within classroom environments key employability skills such as teamwork, leadership, communication, resilience,
and initiative. Is that opportunity is not available to all students,

(01:21):
then there's a problem. There is a proposal that it
will be offered for students on a vocational pathway, but
that would mean it wouldn't be available for anyone going
through to a university on more of an academic pathway.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
So you can still take outdoor ed and go and
get a job, but you can't take outdoor ed and
go to UNI.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
As the proposal currently says. That is one of the risks. Yes,
and yet we know that we need all of our
students when they're leaving school to be as well rounded
as it can, to have worked on their leadership, initiative,
problem solving, their ability to manage and think critically under pressure.
That's what outdoor ed does.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
It's interesting because I did outdoor it at school and
then went to UNI, so I probably wouldn't have taken
that course if the current rules take place.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
That is very much the risk, and it's something that
we're concerned about because we see day in day out
the benefits of all of our students getting out of
the classroom, feeling more connected to the natural environment, learning
all those skills that I just listed, but also critical
to their confidence, self management, and their overall well being.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Interesting, Mike, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you. Mark
Bruce Miller, CEO of fine Et Outdoors. For more from
Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to news talks.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
It'd be from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.