• Students with mental health issues are turning to distance learning at correspondence school, Te Kura.
• Enrolments have increased by 32% since 2018, with significant growth in years 9-13.
• Te Kura provides flexible online learning, addressing the needs of students with anxiety and complex issues.

More students struggling with mental health issues and social anxiety are turning to distance learning.
Enrolments at Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (Te Kura), formerly known as the Correspondence School, have risen by 10,000 in the last six years.

30,981 students attended the state school in 2024, which is a 32% increase from 21,187 in 2018.

Students need to meet the Ministry of Education’s eligibility criteria to enrol.

This includes students who have families living overseas, have been referred for their engagement and wellbeing, are pregnant or young parents, or elite athletes.

About a third of students enrolled last year were children in years 9-13.

Te Kura chief executive Te Rina Leonard said the growth has been mainly in this age group, as well as young adults.
“A range of young people [are] coming to us with a lot of complex issues and needing a different kind of way of engaging in their learning,” she said.

“For some, it’s for a limited amount of time, it might be for a year. For others, they need to be with us for a couple of years.”

Leonard said it’s great these students are still engaged in learning - as Te Kura is seeing more young people with mental health needs than a few years ago.

These students find it difficult to be in face-to-face settings and need a different learning environment, she said.

“So with the online aspect, they’ve got far more flexibility, but they also do have face to face contact as well, which I think is really important.”

A recent UNICEF report of wealthy countries found New Zealand has the highest suicide rate for children.

Over half of all New Zealanders aged 15-24 also experience anxiety or depression, according to a Ministry of Health survey from last year.

It found the number young people with moderate to high distress has nearly doubled since 2016.
Leonard said Covid-19 has also been a factor in enrolments steadily increasing.

“I think there’s some contribution there because I think a lot of young people and families started seeing how learning can happen online and not necessarily always in the classroom.”

“Some young people, not all, actually enjoyed that.”

Leonard said Te Kura is facing challenges around resources, like every other school in the country.

“We could always do more with more, but we need to do well with what we have now.”

“We‘re partway through a funding increase for at-risk students that the Ministry of Education kicked off a few years ago, and we’re really seeing the benefits of that,” she said.

“Being able to have online counsellors for our students, having additional teacher aide support, those things are making a real difference to our students.”

The Ministry of Education said the funding model for Te Kura allows for growth fluctuation.

“[It] has its own funding model, which is different from other state schools in that it receives bulk grant funding for operational costs and teachers’ salaries,“ Central’s Deputy Secretary of Education, Jocelyn Mikaere said.

“Te Kura’s bulk grant is generated based on the number of equivalent full-time students enrolled.”

Leonard said they’re working hard to ensure every young person has the support they need.

“Every student has a leading advisor, so that one person they can go to, and we are building a counselling team.”

“Last week, we started a big training exercises in terms of youth mental health first aid, so we are gearing up as much as we can.”

Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education, social issues and general news. Jaime joined Newstalk ZB in 2023, after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.