Māori educational success not a Govt priority

Young Māori who need extra help to succeed at school are being let down by the Government and its lazy approach to spending, National’s Māori Education Spokesperson Jo Hayes says.

“Labour spent nine years in Opposition criticising the National-led Government on everything we achieved for Māori in education, while talking up its ability to do more.

“Under National, the number of young Māori achieving NCEA Level 2 increased from 51.6 per cent in 2008 to 74.9 per cent in 2017.

“Despite these significant gains, we knew we could do more which is why we introduced targeted funding for schools with students at risk of not achieving, many of whom are Māori.

“But the Government has returned to universalism for schools’ operating funding which is a step backwards for Māori children and young people who need additional support to achieve.

“There is also no funding for professional development programmes that have been successful in raising educational achievement for Māori students such as Te Kotahitanga, which Labour promised to provide in its manifesto.

“Not only that, but the Government is actually spending money to scrap partnership schools which have made a difference for many Māori students who have struggled at other schools.

“This reinforces how weak Labour’s Māori MPs are, including Deputy Labour Leader and Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis who said he’d resign if the Government got rid of partnership schools. Yet he’s still here, and failing to deliver for Māori.

“We cannot afford for the gains made by Māori to be undone, but that’s exactly the risk this Government is taking by treating Māori like an afterthought.”

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