A massive surge in immigration is overwhelming schools in New Zealand, and principals say they are being forced to turn away students and bring in new enrolment rules as a result.
Schools in Auckland especially are struggling to deal with demand as a result of immigration-fuelled population growth since the end of the Covid pandemic, which has continued under Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s centre-right government.
The principal of Rangitoto College on Auckland’s North Shore, the country’s largest high school, said this week that out-of-zone students will no longer be accepted from next year, with even siblings of current students barred from enrolment, RNZ reported.
New Zealand’s second-largest secondary school, Mount Albert Grammar School, signalled it was looking to do same, with Principal Patrick Drumm citing rising immigration and families moving to Auckland from other cities.
“We’ve had strong immigration growth in New Zealand,” he said.
“Those young people need to go to school. A lot of them are moving into our area, and that’s certainly caught us out a little bit.”
Papatoetoe High School principal Vaughan Couillault said enrolments had grown by about 40% in two years, and said that high-density property development was also a factor along with high immigration.
“There doesn’t seem to be a clear line of sight between immigration – people coming across the border – and the number of kids arriving with them,” he said.
“And those people need somewhere to live. In communities like mine, around my school, there are a number of ‘one house comes down, six go up in its place’.”
Sean Teddy, leader of operations and integration at the Ministry of Education, confirmed that there was significant enrolment pressure in a number of regions around the country, and that in some areas new schools may be required.
Net migration peaked in the year to October 2023, and has since fallen, but the numbers of migrants in New Zealand on recent resident, work, student or other visas hit a record high of 607,023 at the end of October 2024, up from 380,388 a year earlier.
The recent spike in immigration has resulted in the country’s Asian population growing larger than the ethnic Maori population, while those of European background alone are just over 50%.
Stats NZ revealed in April that the Asian ethnic population was 973,700 after increasing by an average of 4.8% per year since 2018, overtaking Maoris on 911,200 with their much lower growth rate of 2.2%.
Census data from last year showed that the “European only” population was 2,790,354, or 55.9%, at the time of the 2023 Census, down from 59.8% in 2018, and 61.4% in 2013. In 1996 the percentage of Europeans was 82.4%, falling to 79.2% in 2001, and 76.7% in 2006.
Header image: Left, Christopher Luxon with Indian PM Modi (Facebook). Right, Rangitoto College.
