KEY POINTS:
A plan to boost the achievements of Maori by making the education system work for them was unveiled yesterday.
Ka Hikitia - Managing for Success: The Draft Education Strategy 2008-2012 lists eight ways to help students reach their potential including greater access to Maori language education, a stronger stance on those leaving school early, boosting participation and more proactive communication between homes and schools.
Education Minister Steve Maharey and Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia, giving details of the strategy in a joint statement, said the plan was designed to make the system more effective for Maori students.
"The plan makes it clear the whole education system must make improving the way Maori students are taught a top priority."
Mr Horomia said it was performing well by international standards, but much more was needed to ensure the sector responded effectively to the educational needs of Maori.
The plan also introduces provisional targets that aim to reduce truancy in Years 1, 2, 9 and 10 by 20 per cent and increase participation in early childhood education from 90 to 95 per cent.
"Maori students need to be able to succeed as Maori. The education system must engage them in a way that is relevant to them and their culture," he said.
Waikato University professor Russell Bishop, who works in the Maori education field, said the strategy was a step forward from the past.
He said the focus on delivering high-quality teaching and supporting professional development was key, as was the suggestion education needed to be responsive to Maori.
"What's going on at the moment is not productive because of all these statistics of educational disparities," Professor Bishop said.
"This document is a pretty honest attempt to acknowledge what is going on currently and highlight and identify some very clear pathways to solving those issues."
But the National Party's Maori Affairs education spokesman, Tau Henare, said the plan was a bid to maintain a pretence that the Government's policies in the area were working.
He said there were no new strategies in the plan to tackle the problems.
"It's clear this latest strategy is a rehash of every other strategy Labour has produced to address Maori education."
The problem
* 20 per cent of Maori students who left school last year had yet to turn 16, three times the rate of non-Maori.
* 25 per cent of Maori who left school in 2005 had little or no formal attainment, 2 1/2 times higher than for Pakeha students.
* 53 per cent of Maori boys who left school in 2005 had no qualifications.
* Last year, 12.4 per cent of Maori students left school with the equivalent of university entrance, a 61 per cent rise since 2002.
- NZPA
