Schools reflect makeup of their communities

By REBECCA WALSH education reporter

New Zealand schools are becoming less representative of the wider population.

Statistics show the number of Asian and Pacific Island students has increased at a faster rate than the overall student population in the past five years.

At the same time, Asian and Pacific Island students are concentrated in particular areas and at a small percentage of schools.

Last year, 50 per cent of Asian students were enrolled at 4 per cent of the country's schools while 50 per cent of Pacific Island students went to 5 per cent of schools.

Principals and urban geographers say the trend is not surprising and that schools' populations are representative of their local population.

The Ministry of Education's latest report on the compulsory schools sector shows the number of Asian students in New Zealand has increased 47 per cent since 1995 to 42,821 - making up 5.9 per cent of the New Zealand school population.

During the same time, overall student numbers increased 6.1 per cent to 722,023.

The greatest number of Asian students (11,548) went to school in Auckland City and represented 17 per cent of the city's school population.

Asian students comprised 14 per cent of the school populations of both North Shore City and Manukau City and 9 per cent of that of Waitakere City.

Likewise, the number of Pacific Island students has increased 16 per cent since 1995 to 54,553, comprising 7.6 per cent of the New Zealand school population.

The highest proportion of Pacific students is concentrated in Porirua (32 per cent), followed by Manukau City (30 per cent) and Auckland City (22 per cent).

Dr Larry Murphy, a senior lecturer in urban geography at Auckland University, was not surprised by the results.

Research showed up to 70 per cent of the migrants who came to New Zealand between 1991 and 1996 settled in Auckland.

Dr Murphy said living in clusters was one way for ethnic groups to preserve their culture and language.

Many felt excluded from other parts of the community and preferred to live in a community they identified with.

At the same time, the increasing number of Pacific Island and Maori people moving out of the inner city to live in South Auckland could be linked to changes in the housing market, he said.

In two Auckland schools - St John The Evangelist School in Otara and St Pius X School in Glen Innes - more than 90 per cent of students are Pacific Islanders.

Other schools also have a high proportion of Maori and Pacific Island students.

At James Cook High School, about 70 per cent of the school are Maori or Pacific Islander.

Principal Bryan Smith said the school had set up programmes to cater for the needs of its students.

It offered Samoan language as an option and a programme for Maori students based on Maori language and culture, which had links to the hospitality and tourism industries.

Mt Albert Grammar is one of many schools in Auckland to show a significant increase in Asian student numbers - nearly 30 per cent last year compared with 4 per cent five years ago.

Principal Greg Taylor said the students brought a new dimension to the school but at the same time many needed extra help with English and there were not enough resources.

The ministry report said schools in the Auckland region had the highest proportion of students receiving English language support.

Fourteen per cent of students in Auckland City schools and 15 per cent of students in Manukau City received English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) funding, as did 7 per cent of those in North Shore City and Waitakere City.

Tom Robson, president of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Principals Association, said he did not believe New Zealand was big enough for the representation of various groups in school populations to become an issue.

"We can't engineer it to the point we have the same mix of kids in every school. I don't know if we would want to."