By DITA DE BONI, education reporter
The Minister of Education has been told bluntly by his ministry that despite numerous initiatives, Maori and Pacific Island students are still underachieving in the education system.
In a briefing paper to Trevor Mallard, Maori and Pacific students have been described as performing "at a significantly
lower level than what is expected and wanted".
The paper sets out a litany of underachievement and under-participation by Maori and Pacific students in all parts of the education sector, from preschool to tertiary.
Initiatives the Labour-Alliance Government introduced during its last term include a $30 million injection for early childcare centres in poor areas, literacy and numeracy initiatives that target lower socio-economic communities such as "Feed the Mind", Maori and Pacific immersion programmes, adult literacy programmes and strengthened anti-truancy strategies.
The impact of such strategies has yet to be felt.
Only around 60 per cent of Maori and Pacific children attend any form of early childcare education and there are still "significant disparities in achievement evident throughout New Zealand" in terms of literacy, participation, attainment and progress to tertiary education within those communities.
As well, one-third of all Maori and 25 per cent of Pacific students leave school with no qualification and most Maori and Pacific adults perform "well below average" on all counts of literacy.
The ministry says its capability to work with Maori, identify issues and develop solutions has "improved in recent years but is variable".
But an ageing Pakeha population and young - and growing - Maori and Pacific populations make any initiatives that enhance the success rate of these communities a top priority for the future.
In 20 years, students of Maori and Pacific descent will comprise 40 per cent of all primary-aged and 35 per cent of secondary students.
In 2051 they will make up most of both sectors.
Act education spokeswoman Donna Awatere-Huata, a former educational psychologist, says low-income families, especially Maori and Pacific Islanders, would be helped most by the introduction of child-centred funding.
It would give them the ability to send their children "to a decent school, rather than being locked into a ghetto school zone".
Toby Curtis, Maori advancement deputy vice-chancellor at Auckland University of Technology, says initiatives for Maori students administered by the ministry will have limited success unless Maori have a controlling stake in programmes and contribute to their development.
Samoan ex-All Black Michael Jones, AUT's community partnerships manager, says proper and effective resourcing is the best way to achieve results.
"We desperately need more concrete projects that support and mentor our young people on a consistent pathway from an early age through to the tertiary sector.
"Some excellent projects now exist, a lot are in their infancy and we do hope to see the benefits of these initiatives in the years to come."
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By DITA DE BONI, education reporter
The Minister of Education has been told bluntly by his ministry that despite numerous initiatives, Maori and Pacific Island students are still underachieving in the education system.
In a briefing paper to Trevor Mallard, Maori and Pacific students have been described as performing "at a significantly
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