New Zealand school students are among the worst-behaved kids in the OECD and behaviour has worsened in the last two years, a new report has found.

A report released by the Education Review Office (ERO) has called for classroom behaviour to become a priority and a more “national approach” to worsening behaviour.

“We know that disruptive classroom behaviour is a significant and persistent issue in New Zealand - over the last 20 years our classroom behaviour has been amongst the worst in the OECD,” ERO’s Education Evaluation Centre head Ruth Shinoda said.

“But we also know it is getting worse, with over half of teachers saying all types of disruptive behaviour had become worse in the last two years.”

As a result of the report’s findings, the ERO has made 16 recommendations, including better training for teachers, a national approach to behaviour and clear guidance for schools on having effective consequences for poor behaviour.

Vaughan Couillault, Principal Papatoetoe High School & President of the Secondary Principals’ Association joined Simon Barnett and James Daniels.

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