The Catholic School Network in Aotearoa New Zealand A Tale of Diversity, Quality and Challenge! Brother Sir Patrick Lynch and Patrick Walsh
The Catholic School network in Aotearoa New Zealand has a long and proud history dating back to 1841 shortly after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. As explained in ‘A Fair and Just Solution’ A History of Integration of Private Schools in New Zealand, in 1877 the Government of the day was unable to agree on the level of religious influence that ought to be permitted in New Zealand education, so a secular (and free and compulsory) system of education was established under the Education Act 1877. The result was an independent Catholic School system then grew alongside its State School counterpart.
In Aotearoa New Zealand today there are 237 Catholic schools spread throughout the nation. They educate 68,000 students and are now part of the State Integrated School system which welcomed the first school in 1976. Internationally there are 217,000 Catholic schools and 1,360 Catholic universities with a total population of 60 million students. New Zealand Catholic schools are part of an extensive global network of educational institutions. They all play a part in building up of the social and educational fabric of the societies which they serve – including New Zealand. The Universal Catholic Church has traditionally held firm to the view that Catholic schools provide a conduit for children to have a personal encounter with Christ, support the Mission of the Church and to learn about their Faith tradition. (Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education 2007). These goals were easily achievable up until the 1960’s, with most schools staffed with high numbers of Religious Nuns and Brothers and families of regular Church goers. It is worth noting that the success of the Catholic network of schools (prior to Integration) was built on the back of Religious Orders. These men and women laboured for free, seeing teaching as a calling from God and a vocation. Their personal and financial sacrifices were the key ingredients to a flourishing Catholic school system independent of the State. While the above remain the core reasons for the existence of Catholic schools, the increasing secularisation of New Zealand and the decreasing number of practising Catholics has dramatically altered the educational landscape of Catholic schools. The purpose now includes evangelisation (not proselytizing), social justice and understanding the Gospel message. The Catholic Church and Principals accept the reality that most of the students in Catholic schools are unchurched. This change in focus is not without controversy. Fr Simon Story
in a 2020 Stuff Article (February 2020) lamented that parents who wanted their children to attend Catholic schools were not prepared to go to Mass on Sunday. He perceived this to be a vital part of belonging to the Church. In some respects this is not surprising when 48 per cent of Kiwi’s reported in the 2018 census that they have ‘no religion’. The decline in Church attendance has been offset by an increase in immigrant populations including Indians, Filipinos and Pacific people who have provided a lifeline for many parishes. The stark reality for the Church is that the Catholic School itself has become the parish where they pray, worship and experience fellowship. It does beg the question however, why Catholic schools are in such demand when clearly the Church itself is not? It is no secret that Catholic schools and in particular secondary schools punch well above their weight in academic results including NCEA. Metro Magazine which publishes an annual report card on the best schools in Auckland consistently names Catholic schools in its top ten. Of interest is that it covers all deciles including schools such as decile one McAuley High N Z Principal | M a r c h 2 0 2 2
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