in 2032, ministry predicts
Schools in Wellington and Auckland will suffer the biggest losses as the population of school children drops during the next 10 years.
Education Ministry projections provided to RNZ show Canterbury was the only region expected to have more school children by 2032.
The estimates suggest rolls at primary and secondary schools would fall nearly 30,000 or four percent nationally but in the Wellington region they would drop 11 percent, or 8707 children, to reach 71,972 by 2032.
In the same period Gisborne region schools would lose 12 percent of their enrolments or 1088 children while rolls in Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast could be eight or nine percent lower by 2032.
Auckland's schools would have 13,135 fewer children, a decline of five percent.
In Canterbury, school rolls were forecast to rise from last year's figure of 97,564 to 100,092 children by 2026 before dropping slightly to 99,616 by 2032 when they would be two percent higher than in 2022.
Waikato and Taranaki could have one percent fewer pupils.
Link to article: There will be 30,000 fewer school-aged children in 2032, ministry predicts | RNZ News
