Editorial: No kids left behind

Education minister Hekia Parata. Photo / Ben Fraser

It's great to see Rotorua leading the way when it comes to the education of our children.

There's no better example of this than Excel Rotorua, the initiative which will bring educators and the community together to improve educational achievement in the city by finding local solutions for local needs and aspirations.

The initiative will be driven by Te Taumata o Ngati Whakaue Iho Ake Trust which will work with local education providers, community groups and agencies to help establish an action plan to aid in the advancement of all Rotorua families, children and young people.

It is hoped the initiative will help to identify and build on successful programmes as well as find new and innovative ways of doing things to get better results for our children and young people in our community.

We've all heard about the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff - in this case, children who slip through the education system's net, who can't read or write or have left school without any real qualification. This initiative will hopefully stop this from happening.

This initiative is a chance for Rotorua to join together to improve future opportunities for its children and young people by establishing services and programmes which will enable our young people to succeed in education.

The Ngati Whakaue people can take a bow, their iwi has been involved in helping improve education in Rotorua for more than 100 years and having the Te Taumata o Ngati Whakaue Iho Ake Trust involved is another feather in the iwi's cap.