Hubs help Maori teens with NCEA

Improving NCEA achievement for young Maori will be the focus of a new learning hub launched next month.

The hub run by Te Wananga o Aotearoa (TWOA) in Kaikohe is one of five new hubs due to open around the country to help Maori aged 16 to 18 years achieve NCEA Level 2.

Robyn Reihana, team leader of school services at TWOA, said a call had been put out to several schools in Kaikohe - including Northland College, Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Kaikohe, Kaikohe Christian College and the teen parenting school - to identify students who could benefit from the programme.

Ms Reihana said the learning hubs, called iNative Homework Hubs, were about improving statistics.

"Through the Ministry of Education we know [education achievement] statistics for Maori and Pasifika is very low and statistics for disengaged youth are very high. This is about supporting youth to achieve a minimum of NCEA Level 2."

A maximum of 35 youth, and their whanau, would be reached through the learning hubs. Shanan Halbert, te aukahu-tangata (head of relationships) at TWOA, said helping students achieve NCEA Level 2 would lead to higher studies. He said an important part in the young people's success was their whanau.

"For Maori we know whanau have the highest influence, and that means that in order to assist them to achieve we need whanau to support them," he said.

Ms Reihana said there would be workshops available to whanau to help them gain a better understanding of NCEA. The iNative Hub Launch in Kaikohe has been scheduled for June 10.