Toi Ohomai new te reo Māori courses designed for kura kaupapa students

Toi Ohomai has introduced new courses to help Māori-speaking students advance to tertiary education. Photo /File

Two new courses aimed at ensuring te reo Māori-speaking high school students have the right achievement standards for tertiary study have been created by a local polytechnic.

The Tikanga Hauora and Oranga Tangata courses, based in te reo Māori, are the brainchild of Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology's health manager, Maria Ngawati.

The courses are targeted to NCEA Level 2 and 3 students attending kura kaupapa but will also be available to those in mainstream schools.

The Tikanga Hauora course, which will be delivered to Level 2 students, is set to be rolled out in February. The Level 3 course, Oranga Tangata, will begin next year if there is demand.

Ngawati said she believed it was the first time a programme had been delivered with a focus on providing a pathway for students who spoke and learned in te reo Māori.

She said the goal was for students to gain achievement standards that would help them get into degree-level programmes, particularly in health, education and social services where there was a lack of qualified Māori.

The programme will see students gain 20 units at NCEA Level 2 and 31 at Level 3 from a range of areas, included in the NZQA's university entrance approved list.

Health manager Maria Ngawati. Photo / Supplied

"This is not replacing what kura do, this is helping them with their resources. Usually what happens is that we take these sorts of credits off the NZQA framework in English and our kura translate them into Māori," said Ngawati.

"The nature of NCEA is that it means there are sometimes limited options available, depending on your school or kura. So, our kura kaupapa kids pass Level 3 at NCEA but they often don't have the right kinds of credits to unlock the right doors at degree-level study, in the career they want to follow."

Ngawati said the new courses would make it easier for students to gain access to Toi Ohomai education, health and social services degree programmes and eventually produce more qualified professionals in those areas.

Ngawati hoped that if the programme was successful within the education, health and social services faculties, other faculties would pick it up.

"It is having this ripple effect everywhere but the main thing is that the kids don't have to change who they are."

Ngawati said she was looking forward to the high school students being on campus.

"I can't wait for these kids to come here and blow everyone out of the water with what they know."