Steady progress in Maori education

The overall performance and participation of Maori in education and the workforce is improving, and this will continue through a combination of support programmes and initiatives.

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The overall performance and participation of Maori in education and the workforce is improving, and this will continue through a combination of support programmes and initiatives, says Education Minister Steve Maharey.

"The figures show the number of Maori in general leaving school with little or no formal attainment is going down, from 40 percent in 1996, to 25 percent in 2005."

Steve Maharey says the research by Waikato University Professor, Russell Bishop and commissioned by the government, reveals that more than half of Maori boys, who left school in 2005, had no qualification, and this does highlight a serious issue.

"This can partially be explained by more Maori now working, fewer being unemployed and fewer being outside the labour force. The participation rate for 15 to 24 year olds rose in the year to December, to an 8 year high of 65 percent.

"But we are wanting more Maori to stay at school longer and gain higher qualifications, so there is more work to be done."

Mr Maharey says the Labour-led government has a number of programmes in place to improve Maori achievement, such as Te Kotahitanga, which is led by Professor Russell Bishop and targets Year 9 and Year 10 students.

"Other support includes Te Kauhua, the Student Engagement initiative, the He Aratika mentoring programme and AsTTle, which is an assessment tool specific to Maori.

"Over recent months, the entire approach to Maori education has been reviewed. A new strategy, Ka Hikitia, is about to go to Cabinet aimed at focussing on making more use of programmes that have been successful for Maori.

"More and more Maori students are being attracted into tertiary education, and we're seeing a rise in numbers involved in Early Childhood Education."

ENDS

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