Drop in ‘Asia-ready’ skills among school leavers

A report by the Asia New Zealand Foundation says fewer secondary students are studying Asian languages, with a 5 per cent decline occurring over the past four years.

The study also found “a persistent lack of knowledge” about south east Asia, with around 25 per cent of students unable to correctly identify countries in the region.

The findings are based on a national survey of more than 1,000 senior secondary school students which tested their knowledge of Asia.