Maori education - where the money goes

By JULIE MIDDLETON

It's not easy to define exactly what the Ministry of Education spends on education aimed at Maori, who make up 15.24 per cent of New Zealand's population. But if you tot up the annual report figures for programmes aimed specifically at Maori, they amount to $295,446,040. That's 3.76 per cent of the ministry's $7.85 billion annual budget although, of course, Maori students are also catered for as part of general education spending.

So what does this support? The kohanga reo movement (Maori language kindergartens) started in 1982, and there are now more than 500 of the "language nests". In 2000 - the latest year for which statistics are available - they had 11,500 children under 6.

In 2002, more than 34 per cent of Maori children in licenced early childhood education were enrolled in Maori-medium schools - establishments where between 81 and 100 per cent of instruction is in Maori.

Looking at pre-school care generally, 45 per cent of Maori children under 5 were in early childhood education in 2001, compared with 68 per cent for non-Maori.

Around 85 per cent of Maori pupils attend general schools at primary to secondary level. The rest are enrolled in Maori-medium schools, where at least 31 per cent of the teaching is in Maori.

According to the ministry, Maori students in full immersion and bilingual schools perform at least as well as their Maori counterparts in other settings, including students in general schools with full immersion and/or bilingual classes.

A total of $3 million was available in 2001/02 for Mapihi Pounamu, a support scheme that assists Maori secondary students facing barriers to education. The scheme may pay up to $6500 a student in boarding fees. Uptake: 263 students (2001) and 570 students (2002).

The Maori Education Trust administers $6.6 million of annual educational grants, most on behalf of the Tertiary Education Commission.

A total of 19 per cent of Maori aged 15 years and over were engaged in tertiary education in 2001 - a higher rate than non-Maori.

Some universities run quota systems which reserve places for Maori who might not otherwise reach entry requirements. In general, the threshold for entry is slightly lower than for open entry, and a Maori student may receive a place above a Pakeha student with higher marks. Quota places are not necessarily filled, as students must still reach certain standards.

The University of Auckland holds places open for Maori and Pacific undergraduate students in engineering (numbers not specified), the department of architecture (up to five places), property (3) and planning (3). Commerce holds up to 40 places, law up to 49 and medicine 15.

Victoria and Canterbury universities hold 10 per cent of their second-year law places for Maori. Otago and Waikato universities and Auckland University of Technology don't have quota systems.

Wananga are Maori universities run along Maori tikanga (customs), and New Zealand has three. Te Awamutu's Te Wananga O Aotearoa is the largest tertiary institution with 25,000 students, and was accorded tertiary status by the Government in 1993.

The others are Te Wananga o Raukawa at Otaki, near Wellington (tertiary status acquired 1993) and Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi at Whakatane (tertiary status accorded 1997).

After a 1999 Waitangi Tribunal ruling that the three were unfairly disadvantaged by not getting establishment funding from the Government, Te Awamutu received $40 million and Whakatane $25 million. Otaki is still negotiating and expects settlement in the next three months.

Many iwi offer tertiary education scholarships, ranging from a token $500 to Ngai Tahu's $20,000 grants for doctoral students. Government departments offering Maori education scholarships include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Audit Office, the Community Employment Group, the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand and the Justice Department.

While 20 per cent of all school students are Maori, just 8.2 per cent of their teachers are. Various hard-to-staff subject areas, including Maori language, attract incentives: TeachNZ secondary subject trainee allowances are worth $10,000 each.

Secondary teachers of Maori, maths and physics can apply for a taxable payment of $2500 to reduce their student loan in each of their second, third and fourth years of teaching.

TeachNZ scholarships, worth $10,000 each, are aimed at Maori and Pacific island people wanting to teach, people wanting to teach using the Maori language, and people from rural areas wanting to teach in rural schools. Last year, 495 of the scholarships were available.

To raise numbers and quality, those teaching in the Maori language receive incentives: full-time teachers working in Maori for more than 31 per cent of their time get an annual allowance of $2847. Full-time unqualified teachers doing the same thing get an allowance of $1500.

Inland Revenue, which administers the student loan scheme, says there are no special provisions for Maori students - they are treated like every other student loan debtor.

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