Exploring demand from non-Catholic parents for Catholic schooling

Abstract

Enrolment trends indicate that Catholic schooling in New Zealand is being viewed more positively by an increasing number of non-Catholic parents and caregivers. As a Trustee on the Board of a Catholic primary school, I am aware that the issue of increasing the non-preferential roll is a current topic of discussion by a number of Boards. The broad context for this issue is that one of the aims of recent education reforms has been to give increased choice for parents. There have been studies on how New Zealand's education reforms of the 1980s and 1990s have impacted on parental choice, and other studies have focused on the factors that influence parents when deciding what school their child should attend. It is the perception of a number of those involved in the Catholic schooling system that parents and caregivers believe the Catholic system offers a better 'values-based' education than the State education system. However, no research has been done to examine this issue and explore the factors influencing increased demand by non-Catholics for a Catholic education. This exploratory study uses semi-structured qualitative interviews to gain an understanding, from the parents' perspective, about the factors that influence their demand for Catholic schooling. The participants are a sample of the parents and caregivers from the 2001 non-preferential roll of the Catholic primary schools in Wellington. In contrast to previous research, the respondents in this study indicate that while high-quality education is important, the special character of Catholic schools and the focus on 'values' in the Catholic education system, are the key reasons for their choice of school. While Catholic education is seen to have many advantages, there are disadvantages that arise for non-Catholics that need to be addressed. A number of issues are raised about non-preferential roll policies, particularly the lack of guaranteed access to Catholic secondary schooling for non-Catholic students.