SPEECH BY
MINISTER OF MAORI AFFAIRS/ASSOCIATE MINISTER OF EDUCATION
THE HON PAREKURA HOROMIA
NZ Educational Administration Society (Wellington Branch)
EMBARGOED TO 5.30pm Tuesday 5 September 2000

 Thank you for the opportunity to address the Wellington branch of the NZ Education Administration Society.
 I know that your society is open to all with an interest in the theory and practice of Educational Management and Administration… and that your membership consists of school leaders, professional and lay, lecturers and researchers and officials in government agencies.
 Your membership also covers from Early childhood education through to the tertiary level, and that's good because we need change to occur at all levels to improve the situation for Maori and therefore for New Zealand.
My Vision
 Before I talk about Closing the Gaps and its impact on education, I would just like to outline my vision for Maori
 The latest stats show that commerce and business was the main field of study for Maori graduates, followed by Humanities.
 The lowest number of graduates were in the fields of Law, Engineering and Maths.
 My vision is that we will have Maori participating at all levels of education, from early childhood education to tertiary and across a much broader spectrum of subjects.
 For example I want Maori to hop onboard the cyberwaka. and lead in the field of ICT.
 Like the initiative in Te Whanau a Apanui in the eastern Bay of Plenty, who have developed a partnership with an international company to train people up to international standards, in such things as software engineering, networking and hardware maintenance.
Closing the gaps and Govt’s policy on Maori education
 This Government sees education as the cornerstone for Maori development and Labour is committed to supporting the educational achievement of Maori people in Maori language and mainstream education.
 I don't need to tell you people about the statistics like 35% of Maori students leave school without formal qualifications.
 Presently only 40% of Maori under 4 years of age attend any sort of early childhood education and most of those are at kohanga reo.
 Over the last few months my cabinet colleagues and I have been working on programmes to, I'm pleased to say, increase participation rates from early childhood through to tertiary level and also to improve achievement rates at high school.
 I'll go through a number of initiatives that will be of interest to you but they are by no means, all of the initiatives that will contribute to closing the gaps.
Govt Agencies
 All govt agencies, including the Ministry of Education, are being told to review their business to get better results for the money currently spent on Maori initiatives.
 Te Puni Kokiri will audit government agencies and CEOs on this performance.
Iwi Initiatives
 We are working with iwi groups to find ways of raising achievements of all children within their rohe eg the agreements with the Tuwharetoa trust board, Te Runanga o Ngati Porou, and Te Reo o Te Tai Tokerau.
 There is a major education hui coming up soon, hosted by Tuwharetoa about the Maori Education strategy.
Professional Development
 80% of Maori school-aged students are in mainstream education
 The Ministry of Education is working on a plan for a nationally coordinated in-service training, advisory and support network. An overarching national policy framework for professional development is important for an effective teaching service and strong schools.
The Education Council
 The Council replaces the Teacher Registration Board, and will have wider powers and additional responsibilities than its predecessor.
 It will move to universal registration for teachers including teachers in kura kaupapa Maori and kohanga.
 Consultation about the Education Council is almost complete and the government will introduce legislation later this year.
 It's expected to be up and running by the middle of next year.
Tertiary Advisory Commission (TEAC)
 Established to develop and advise on an appropriate long-term strategic direction for tertiary education.
 Its first report recognises the Treaty of Waitangi and lists the challenges to get Maori participation rates up.
Student loan scheme
 Legislative amendments about the new interest write-off and repayment provisions are presently before Parliament and expected to be enacted later this year.
Teacher Supply
 A further increase in the number of Teach NZ scholarships from 255 to 405 per year
 More face-to-face recruitment campaigns to encourage more Maori, Maori-medium and Maori language teacher trainees
Maori language Education
 We will support the growth and strengthening the quality of Maori language education by:
1. The development of additional Maori language teaching and learning materials
2. Piloting the collection and development of Maori language teaching and learning materials at the local level through local iwi education project structures
3. Support wharekura curriculum delivery through the use of ICT, special expert teachers and fund opportunities for student in wharekura to meet en-masse for practical courses not available at individual schools eg access to science laboratories.
4. Providing additional staffing and operational allowances to support kura kaupapa applicants who already exist as schools/satellites of other kura kaupapa Maori.
Other initiatives
 Want to see mentoring support to at risk Maori secondary students to encourage them to stay at school and do well.

Making plans become reality
 Maori parents are no different to any other people, they want the best for their children.
 At early childhood we need to remove the barriers that exist such as access, transport etc.
 An example is that from February next year, the Childcare subsidy will be available for 37 hours a week, up from 30 hours
 At the senior school we need to make qualifications more relevant and flexible. Therefore I support the director of the new National Certificate of Educational Achievement which allows for a broader spectrum of qualifications than the present narrow focus on traditional learning.
 At a tertiary level, officials are presently working on a strategic plan for Maori in tertiary education.
 I would expect solutions that provide a great deal of traction such as incentives by way of scholarships, targeting of secondary schools students from Year 11 onwards and institutions that are Maori-friendly to name but some.
By the next election
 I want a strategy in place, where Maori communities have had a substantive say in its direction and ownership that will provide a clear pathway for the future. I don't want an ad hoc, knee-jerk response, which just patches over problems. I would expect that a number of initiatives I've talked about will be well advanced under this strategy, particularly the key target areas of increased early childhood and tertiary participation and senior school retention.
Personal responsibility
 I have specifically targeted Maori initiatives because that's what was requested.
 But can I say that we all have a collective responsibility to get things right for Maori and therefore the future of our country.

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