Interviewer: Nicole, tell us about the
educational system in New Zealand. For example, how long do students spend in the system? Nicole: Oh,… a long time! Usually about 17 or 18 years if they go to university, interviewer: When did you start school?
Nicole: At the age of five.
Compulsory education is twelve years – from five to about sixteen, but a lot of children in New Zealand go to pre-school classes, you know, kindergartens. I went to a kindergarten when I was four and after a year I went to primary school.
Interviewer: How many years were you at primary school?
Nicole: Five years – from five to ten.
Interviewer: Where did you go after primary school?
Nicole: Well, then I went to an intermediate school, from ten to twelve. Then at twelve we start at secondary school.
Interviewer: Mmm. When can students leave secondary school?
Nicole: Well, we can leave secondary school at sixteen, but most students stay till they’re eighteen.
Interviewer: Doalotofstudentsgoon to higher education?
Nicole: Yes, I think about fifty per cent of students go into higher education – that’s universities, polytechnics, colleges of education…
Interviewer: Which type of institution did you go to?
Nicole: I went to a college of education because I wanted to be a teacher. I became a primary teacher, so I studied for three years and finished when I was twenty-two.
Interviewer: Do you have to pay for your higher education studies in New Zealand?
Nicole: Yes, we have to pay some of the costs, but not all.
Interviewer: How much does a student have to pay?
Nicole: Oh, it depends. It can be 2,000 dollars or it can be 20,000.
Interviewer: Well, thank you, Nicole.
That was very interesting…
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