Achievement gap in schools promises disaster

By REBECCA WALSH education reporter

Disastrous economic and social consequences will result unless under-achievement by Maori and Pacific Island students is tackled urgently, an Auckland principal says.

By mid-century, one-third of children will be Maori and one-third Pakeha, according to the Education Review Office. The rest will be mainly Pacific Islanders and Asians.

Ministry of Education statistics show that in July last year the student population was 65 per cent Pakeha and just under 20 per cent Maori.

Bruce Ritchie, principal of Massey High School and president of the Auckland Secondary Schools Principals Association, said that most schools were well aware of the changing face of their student population and the resulting academic and social challenges.

"If schools are going to become 30 per cent Maori, which therefore is going to affect the total population, something has to be done about their achievement and education outcomes or else we are heading into a disastrous situation economically and socially for the whole country."

The achievement of Maori and Pacific Island students would be the focus of the principals association's meeting next month.

Mr Ritchie said the meeting would look at what the Ministry of Education and the Education Review Office expected of schools, along with strategies for schools to raise achievement levels.

Mr Ritchie said there was a need for more Maori and Pacific Island teachers, to better match the student population.

As part of a drive to achieve this, the Ministry of Education is running an advertising campaign and has increased TeachNZ scholarships.

That is having a positive impact on one Auckland teacher-training course.

Christine Rubie, deputy director of primary teacher education at Auckland University, said that this year the university had started a teacher-training course specifically aimed at diverse urban schools.

It involved trainees going into schools with a high ethnic mix in areas such as Manukau and Otara.

The course was taught at the Manukau Institute of Technology as part of the university's bachelor of education degree, and a large proportion of the 37 students taking the course were Pacific Islanders - many now able to do the training because of scholarships.

Miss Rubie said the school curriculum was designed for the white, middle-class population, and simple things such as the books a teacher chose to read in class were not always relevant to students' experiences.

For example, a book on skiing at the weekend was unlikely to reflect the experience of many children.

Cathy Dewes, chairwoman of the Kura Kaupapa Council, Te Runanga Nui o Nga Kura Kaupapa Maori, does not believe the mainstream system caters for Maori.

"It caters for Maori who choose or aspire to be other than bilingual, bicultural - people who aspire to be monolingual, monocultural, European."

Ms Dewes said every Maori child should have the option of attending a kura kaupapa.

"Our movement believes that if we were adequately resourced, we would in fact provide the solution to the Closing the Gaps policy and the Government's recent efforts to address the educational needs of Maori students."