Pacific students need help says Michael Jones

By JO-MARIE BROWN

All Black great Michael Jones, who is to head a new Pacific Island education initiative, says New Zealanders need to realise race-based programmes benefit society as a whole.

Jones has been appointed director of the new Office of Pasifika Advancement at the Auckland University of Technology, which has been formed to lure more Pacific Islanders into tertiary education and improve their retention and success rates.

Yesterday Jones, commenting on the race-based funding debate sparked by National leader Don Brash, said it was important to have the debate.

However, the community could not ignore the fact that certain ethnic groups needed a helping hand, he said.

"I certainly don't see the creation of this office as special treatment. I see this as good stewardship by AUT.

"Education is a passion for me and it is the pathway to a future we all dream of for our young Pasifika people," he said.

"We're talking about a community that's under-represented in education and because education is such a powerful tool in terms of empowerment, it's in the national interest for Pacific Island people to improve their lot."

Jones, who is of Samoan heritage, holds a Masters degree in geography and a Bachelor of Planning from the University of Auckland.

The new office - the first of its kind at a New Zealand university - would develop policy and strategic initiatives and give Pacific Islanders a greater say in the decision-making process at AUT, Jones said.

An existing mentoring programme would be expanded so that Pacific Island students at high schools throughout the region would be encouraged to continue their education.

"There are some unique challenges facing these students," Jones said.

"Obviously there's a financial one. The cost of taking up university study is huge. But then there's different social expectations as well.

"There's pressure to go to work for the family early and cultural obligations to attend church and other functions," Jones said.

"I was lucky in sport that we played on mainly level playing fields. That is not the case for many of our Pacific people."

Currently, nine per cent of AUT's 25,000 students were Pacific Islanders but Jones said numbers would swell considerably over the next decade as the population was a youthful one.

"I see this as a milestone for our people. It's cutting edge because it's about looking forward and making sure the university is well positioned to engage with our community in the coming five or 10 years."

AUT general manager and vice-chancellor designate Derek McCormack said the university believed it was critical to show leadership in providing for Pacific Island people in the "Polynesian capital of the world".

He said Jones was a role model who "surmounted the challenge of continuing university studies while representing his country at the highest level, before going on to have a professional career".

A spokesperson for Don Brash said yesterday that the National leader had made it clear that National's policy would be based on needs, not race, but was not prepared to make definitive calls at this stage.

"Once National is in power, it will undertake a full review of Government policies based on race."