CHAPTER 9. EDUCATION
There have been far reaching changes over the last five years in the administration of education in New Zealand.
This section briefly outlines the changes that have been made and then focuses on current policies and programmes in Maori education.
THE REFORMS IN GENERAL
The process of change began with the appointment of a task force in 1987 to review education administration, the structure of which had changed little over the last 100 years.
The task force recommended. major reforms which were broadly accepted by the Government. The changes made are based on choice and are aimed at giving a wide range of options to consumers and individual schools and other learning institutions; the needs of parents and the community; cultural sensitivity; equity; and good management practices. They also allow those working in the system to have detailed and clear objectives; control over resources; clear responsibilities; and to be accountable for the decisions they make.
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
The most significant change in the administration of primary and secondary education involves parents and the community running schools in partnership with teachers. Responsibility for the administration of primary and secondary schools, previously controlled by education boards and the regional offices of the Department of Education, is now decentralised and rests with the boards of trustees of individual schools.
BOARDS OF TRUSTEES
Members of boards of trustees are elected by parents of students enrolled at the school. Members include representatives of parents of students, the principal of the school and a staff representative. A student enrolled full time in a class above form 3 may also be elected to a board of a secondary school as a student representative.
Boards of trustees may co-opt additional members to ensure, for example, that there is a gender balance and that the board reflects the ethnic and socio-economic diversity of the students of the school the board serves.
Each board of trustees has a large measure of autonomy in its control of the management of its school. It has responsibility for the payment of ancillary staff salaries and for the allocation of funds for the operational activities of the school. The board must also ensure that there is a written charter of aims, purposes and objectives of the school approved by the Minister of Education. The school's charter includes the National Education Guidelines and the local goals and objectives which reflect the particular aspirations of individual schools and their communities.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Changes to the administration of early childhood education were introduced in 1989 following a working party review of this sector.
A feature of the changes was the establishment of the early Childhood Development. The role of the Unit is outlined below.
TERTIARY EDUCATION
The Government, in the reforms it made in 1990 to the administration of tertiary education, brought about changes which decentralised decision making, introduced a common formula for government funding., provided for greater participation in post-compulsory education and training and the active encouragement of excellence.
These changes also led to the establishment of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Education and Training Support Agency, the roles of which are summarised below.
THE NEW EDUCATION AGENCIES
The broad changes outlined above led to the establishment of new education agencies. These include the following:
The Ministry of Education replaced the former Department of Education.
The Ministry is responsible for providing policy advice to the Minister of Education on all aspects of education, from early childhood to tertiary, overseeing the implementation of approved policies, and advising on the best use of the resources the Government allocates to education.
The Ministry funds schools and other learning institutions and makes sure this funding is distributed according to Government policy. It approves the charters of these institutions.
The Ministry administers legislation and manages school property.
The Ministry is also responsible for developing national guidelines on all aspects of education, including curriculum objectives. It also collects, analyses and makes available education statistics.
The Ministry ensures the delivery of education advisory services, special education services, curriculum and early childhood development through contractual arrangements with other agencies and providers listed below.
The Education Review Office reviews and reports on the extent to which individual early childhood centres and primary and secondary schools are achieving the educational objectives set out in their charters.
The Education Review Office, in examining the effectiveness of these institutions, also takes account of their performance in relation to equal employment and equal educational opportunities, and the management of finance and property, as well as other matters.
New Zealand Qualifications Authority has the role of co-ordinating an accessible and flexible qualifications system which meets New Zealand's needs and internationally recognised standards.
The Authority's main functions are to:
- administer national examinations, both secondary and tertiary;
- co-ordinate all qualifications in post-compulsory education and training (from upper secondary to degree level);
- set and regularly review standards as they relate to qualifications;
- ensure New Zealand qualifications are recognised overseas and overseas qualifications are recognised in New Zealand.
The Authority is a Crown agency and reports directly to the Minister of Education.
Quest Rapuara is a careers advice and information service which helps people choose suitable work, education and training.
Quest Rapuara operates a computer database on vocational and careers information. This is available from many outlets, including schools, polytechnics, public libraries, Marae and other public places.
Quest Rapuara is a government-funded agency chartered to the Minister of Education.
The Education and Training Support Agency has the role of developing skills for work.
The agency's clients are employers, industry training bodies, apprentices and trainees and, generally, the New Zealand economy.
The Agency manages the Government's Industry Training Strategy, Access Training, Youth Traineeships and the Training Opportunities Programme. It also works with the Ministry of Education to develop skills training policies.
The Agency is an independent organisation working under charter to the Minister of Education.
The Special Education Service provides services to assist those learners from early childhood to tertiary who have special physical and learning needs.
The Service has advisers on the deaf, psychologists, speech and language therapists, itinerant and visiting teachers.
The Service is an independent organisation contracted to the Ministry of Education.
The Early Childhood Development Unit promotes the development and provision of quality, accessible and culturally appropriate early childhood education. The Unit provides liaison and co-ordination for all early childhood education services. It provides in-service training and education and gives advice and support to families, service organisations and community groups interested in providing early childhood care and education. The Unit is an independent organisation which is contracted to the Ministry of Education.
The Maori Education Foundation was established by statute in 1961 to promote and encourage improved education for Maori by providing financial assistance.
Funding is available for grants to higher secondary education, long distance scholarships and for sponsorships of annual. speech contests. Grants are also given to support Maori students attending university and other tertiary institutions of similar status. Consideration is also given to special cases which fall outside the Foundation's present policy.
The role of the Foundation is currently under review in the context of the action being taken on the objective in the Ten Point Plan for Maori Education (see below) to explore the implications of separate structures for Maori education in relation to mainstream education. As a consequence, the Foundation may be given new functions. The review of the Foundation is expected to be completed early in 1993.
The Teacher Registration Board is a Crown agency with the role of approving the registration of teachers and maintaining a register of teachers. It is not compulsory for schools to employ registered teachers.
Other education administrative bodies include polytechnic councils, councils of colleges of education, university councils, private schools and education service centres. The latter centres offer services to schools such as transport, payroll, property and supply administration
MAORI EDUCATION
The objective of the Ministry of Education in Maori education is to actively support and implement the Government Outcome for Maori, namely, that the distinctive and unique place of Maori must be preserved and enhanced in order that they are able to participate fully in the future development of New Zealand.
The Ministry of Education has identified the three key policy issues facing Maori education today. These are:
- the achievement rates of Maori students are low in comparison with other groups in New Zealand, and the gap is widening;
- the Maori language is facing extinction;
- the support now being given to establishments offering alternative education delivery services for improving Maori achievements and retaining the Maori language.
THE TEN POINT PLAN FOR MAORI EDUCATION
All the above issues are addressed in the Ten Point Plan for Maori Education developed in 1991 and introduced in 1992. The Ministry sees the Ten Point Plan as fundamental in bringing about necessary changes in the current education system where Maori students experience little success. The Fen Point Plan complements the key outcomes sought by the Government, and in particular, the National Education Goal which relates to Maori education and te reo Maori, namely:
increased participation and success by Maori through the advancement of Maori education initiatives, including education te reo Maori, consistent with the Treaty of Waitangi.
The Ten Point Plan is expressed as ten long term goals linked to a programme of action and regular review of progress. The programme is seen to be dynamic and will be constantly reshaped as objectives are achieved.
The Ten Point Plan sets out, under each point, the objective, proposed actions, the person responsible, the actions in progress and the achievements to date.
The ten strategies in the Plan are set out below:
to ensure the retention of Te Reo Maori; and
to ensure that the achievement rates of Maori students increase through positive achievement initiatives, as the present gaps between Maori and non Maori are too substantial to tolerate
1. Establish principles and guide lines for incorporating bicultural perspectives in the administration, policy development and personnel practices of the Ministry of Education.
2. Develop a targeting strategy within the Achievement initiative to remove all barriers to learning and achievement for Maori students in both primary and secondary school so that they have a strong .foundation for later achievement.
3. Develop policies which foster increased participation rates of Maori children in early childhood education programme.
4. Develop policies that will increase Maori participation rates in post-school training/retraining and education to increase their employment options.
5. Encourage colleges of education and other tertiary training providers to increase the supply of Maori teachers and teachers with competence to teach in bilingual and Maori immersion programmes.
6 Increase the supply of Maori language learning resource materials.
7. Provide resources to support Maori language initiatives at early childhood, primary secondary and tertiary levels; specifically Te Kohanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Maori, bilingual classes, kaiarahi reo, Te Atakura programme, bilingual teacher education and whare wananga.
8. Provide resources to support research into:
Teaching styles most appropriate for Maori learners;
the needs of children graduating from Te Kohanga Reo;
the effectiveness of taha Maori programmes in mainstream education;
the impact of Kura Raupapa Maori on the life chances of Maori children.
9. Develop policies that promote home-school relationships and remove obstacles to Maori families becoming full partners in the educative process in order to improve the success and achievement of Maori students at all levels.
1O. Explore the implications of separate structures for Maori education in relation to mainstream education.
The Group Manager Maori is responsible for the overall co-ordination and implementation of this plan.
MAORI LANGUAGE EDUCATION
Over the last 20 years, and more particularly over the last 10 years, a number of initiatives have been taken to promote and encourage Maori language education. These have been marked by the emergence of official bilingual schools (from 1976), Te Kohanga Reo (language nests) from 1982, and Kura Kaupapa Maori (total immersion courses) from 1985. These provide a distinctly Maori influence on education within the mainstream which is recognising different requirements, different needs and different approaches to resolving educational issues.
The distinguishing feature of this emerging system in Maori education is the medium of instruction, te reo Maori.
Te Kohanga Reo are currently the largest providers of early childhood for Maori children, accounting for nearly 49% of all enrolments.
- Around nearly 14% of Maori students in New Zealand schools are involved in Maori language immersion programmes; and
- approximately 24% of Maori students are studying Te Reo Maori in a conventional classroom setting.
The Maori Language Commission has designated 1995 as the Year of the Maori Language. Both the Ministry of Education and Te Puni Kokiri are contributing to the funding of the Year.
Currently, Government funding amounting to $80 million goes directly into programmes where Maori is spoken most of the time.
The main barriers to the advancement of Maori language education programmes at present are:
- a lack of trained teachers fluent in te reo Maori;
- a lack of teaching and learning resources in Maori.
An increase in the availability of Maori language education will only occur when these shortfalls are adequately addressed.
TEACHER EDUCATION
There are few fluent Maori speakers among those qualified for teacher training. Colleges of Education need to be working to increase the number by offering bilingual training for experienced teachers and training programmes for kaiarahi reo (Maori language assistants).
There are currently 90 trainees involved in pre-service teacher education who are fluent in te reo Maori. While colleges of education work to increase the availability of total immersion teacher training, they are faced with the same problems schools face in trying to employ suitably qualified Maori speaking teachers to support this activity. Approximately $1 million was made available in 1993 as a contestable fund for training primary school teachers for Maori language education. This sum is equivalent to 100 full-time teachers. A further $300,000 was available in 1993 for programmes to support Maori language proficiency of teachers currently delivering curriculum through te reo Maori.
The current imbalance in teacher supply and demand should be resolved as more colleges of education and private training providers establish total immersion teacher training. This could attract Maori teachers already in the system as well as Maori trainees.
KURA KAUPAPA MAORI
The first Kura Kaupapa Maori were established in the 1980s on the initiative of groups of Maori parents. The main language of instruction is Maori and the total curriculum is based on Maori values, philosophies, principles and practices.
The growth of Kura Kaupapa Maori highlights a significant shift in the aspirations and choice of parents for their children.
Fourteen kura have been established as part of the state system and five additional schools will be designated Kura Kaupapa Maori in February 1993. The Ministry is currently processing 13 additional applications for kura kaupapa status.
In 1992 the Government approved funding for the first secondary school to teach predominantly in Maori. The school began as an extension of the existing kohanga reo and kura kaupapa Maori primary classes at Hoani Waititi Marae in Auckland. Its roll is expected to build up to 130 to 150 as more graduates of kura kaupapa Maori came through.
MAORI LANGUAGE FACTOR FUNDING
During 1992, 30% of the Maori Language Factor Fund was targeted to schools offering significant immersion programmes. This targeting will continue in 1993 and will provide for the employment of 97 kaiarahi reo (Maori language assistants) who are employed to increase and maintain te reo Maori in these schools.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
The continued growth of Te Kohanga Reo is a demonstration of the enthusiasm of Maori parents to give their children the opportunity to become fluent in te reo Maori and an intrinsic desire among many of them to re-establish their identity as tangata whenua and with iwi. The programme, despite is success and growth, still has a long way to go. The aim is to target 75% of Maori children under five years of age within 10 years.
WHARE WANANGA
Total immersion programmes have been established by Maori groups at a tertiary level.
Approval has been given for Te Wananga 0 Raukawa in Otaki and Aotearoa Institute in Te Awamutu to be funded as wananga or stand alone education providers at the tertiary level. These two institutions will provide Maori with another option when deciding whether to participate in tertiary education and training.
LEARNING MATERIALS
There is currently a serious shortage of learning resources to support bilingual and total immersion Maori classes in schools.
The provision of additional resources for this purpose is being given high priority by the Ministry of Education.
ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION
There is strong interest among Maori in the development of an alternative education for Maori that is controlled by Maori. This interest is reflected in the Ten Point Plan.
The Ministry of Education supports alternative education initiatives. In this respect, the programme of action on the Ten Point Plan includes a determination of the role of the Maori Education Foundation with the Ministry, the promotion of a good relationship with Te Puni Kokiri, and the establishment of relationships between Maori groups, including iwi, who have submitted education programmes to the Ministry.
Iwi initiatives have been received from Tainui, Taranaki, Wanganul, Ngati Porou and Kahungunu. A working party has been established by Tainui and the Ministry to consider strategies.
TE PUNI KOKIRI AND MAORI EDUCATION
Education is a key focus area for Te Puni Kokiri.
Its main function is to advise the Minister of Maori Affairs on policies that will promote Maori education. In addition, it has a developmental and. monitoring role.
In its developmental role, Te Puni Kokiri is able to design or commission policy advice projects (or Mana Tukutuku) and the outcomes influence policy development. Projects may test alternative means of service delivery or different structures.
Te Puni Kokiri, in its monitoring role, assesses the responsiveness of mainstream agencies to Maori. A monitoring framework has been developed and is being trialled.
In its Post-Election Briefing to the Minister of Maori Affairs in November 1993, Te Puni Kokiri outlined a detailed education profile for Maori in early childhood education, primary and. secondary schools, formal tertiary education and Maori participation in polytechnic education.
Te Puni Kokiri's current focus on education
Te Puni Kokiri's current activities on education focus on:
- developing and promoting kaupapa Maori education initiatives;
- examining how mainstream education services can be more responsive to Maori needs, thereby encouraging greater participation and achievement by Maori;
- monitoring the effectiveness of mainstream education in the development of Maori learning.
Current activities in each of these areas are briefly summarised below.
Developing and promoting kaupapa Maori initiatives
The development and expansion of opportunities for Maori to learn in an environment that places value on Maori language and culture has been a priority of Maoridom over the last decade. The initiatives taken have been so successful that the demand for Maori medium education is now exceeding the community's ability to supply it.
Te Puni Kokiri is concerned that the quality of Maori medium education is maintained at a high level and, to this end, has taken a number of initiatives, as follows:
Kura Kaupapa Maori teaching materials
The aim of this project is to provide policy advice on the development of kaupapa Maori curricula. It is being conducted at the first secondary kura kaupapa (wharekura) at Hoani Waititi Marae under the guidance of Dr Peter Sharples.
Production of Maori language resources from archival materials
This is an evaluation of the feasibility of producing contemporary Maori language resources from historical Maori newspapers. The research is being conducted by Te Tira Whakaemi Korero, Department of Maori Studies, Victoria University.
Piloting of a kura within a school
This project is providing policy advice on how to set up a kura within a school and to investigate alternative provision for graduates of kura kaupapa Maori using existing resources. It is being carried out at Ngaruawahia High School.
Facilitating greater achievement by Maori in mainstream education
While the number of kaupapa Maori education initiatives has increased, most Maori learners are still in mainstream education and are likely to remain there. Te Puni Kokiri is developing strategies to increase the participation of Maori specifically in science and technology, arid in the broader area of post-compulsory education.
It is looking at the particular needs of learners in isolated and rural areas.
The Ministry is working with others to overcome the problems of Maori truancy, suspension and expulsion.
Current projects include the following:
Telecommunications
This project, at Ngata Memorial College, Ruatoria, aims to provide policy advice on how the needs of rural schools with large Maori rolls can be met through the use of telecommunications and information technology.
Te Puwhara transition education programme
Te Puwhara (the platform) is piloting a programme to improve the transition from school to further education, training and employment for Maori secondary students. The project is being carried out by Hato Hohepa (St Joseph's Maori Girls' College).
Secondary Learning Centres
This project addresses the barriers to education achievement and retention for rural Maori secondary students. Two learning centres are being piloted, one at Matahiwi (Whanganui River) and Ruatahuna to assist secondary students with their correspondence studies.
Rapid Mathematics Programme
This is investigating culturally appropriate ways to improve numeracy among Maori. The Ngai Tahu Maori Trust Board has been. sub-contracted to carry out this project.
School Attendance Programme
This project aims to provide policy advice on how to decrease truancy, suspensions and expulsions of Maori by using the skills and services of the local Maori Wardens' Association. It is being carried out in Whangarei.
Establishment of a private Maori school
This aims to provide policy advice on how to set up a private Maori school. It is contracted to the Hukarere Foundation.
Monitoring education services
A number of monitoring projects are under-way.
The new education funding arrangements are being evaluated to determine their impact on the delivery of services to Maori.
Consistent measures of ethnicity are being developed in co-operation with the Ministry of Education and Statistics New Zealand.
The effectiveness of the Education Review Office in monitoring schools' responsiveness to Maori needs is under evaluation.
Iwi monitoring of schools
This project is studying the most effective ways of conducting reviews of boards of trustees on issues of relevance to Maori learners. A study is being made by Te Kete 0 Taranaki Incorporated to evaluate the responsiveness of schools in the Taranaki region to the aspirations of Iwi with regard to school charters.
Future directions
Te Puni Kokiri has identified the following future directions for its activities in Maori education:
- extending and strengthening Kaupapa Maori initiatives;
- promoting the success of Maori education initiatives in international forums;
- promoting the potential of telecommunications for distance learning and, in particular, its capacity to overcome the critical shortage of trained Maori teachers and the isolation and geographical spread of many Maori students;
- the issues for Maori within a seamless education system;
- close examination of the merits of alternative funding systems for education and the relevance of these to the achievement of education which is truly responsive to the needs of its consumers, particularly its Maori consumers;
- exploring new options for a more flexible use of existing education structures, taking into account the different demographics of Maori and non-Maori school populations;
- exploring strategies to increase Maori participation in science, mathematics and technology;
- the investigation of ways to enable Maori to reach the international area and global marketplace through education, initially focusing on language acquisition and cultural awareness strategies.
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