The founder of one of the country's longest-running alternative education organisations, is urging a re-think on how the sector is viewed, and the students that come through its doors.
Over the past fifteen years, approximately 23,000 young people have gone through alternative education (AE) programmes.
These are programmes that sit outside mainstream schools, aim to provide young people with a quality education and to support them into education, training, or work. Lloyd Martin, who founded provider Praxis in the 1990s recently completed research into the experiences and perceptions of young people in AE.
He says the programmes, which run off of a fraction of the funding that mainstream schools get, are a lifeline.
Meanwhile, on Auckland's North Shore, Cameron Fisher is running a pilot programme for pupils too young for AE programmes. He explains why it's working.
Students learning in a school classroom. Photo: Unsplash/ Taylor Flowe
