Canty UE results lagging

Canterbury and the Chatham Islands have the same percentage of students who achieve university entrance grades.

Data released by the Ministry of Education showed 42 per cent of students in Canterbury and the Chatham Islands achieved grades good enough to attend university. Auckland had the highest percentage at 48 per cent, compared to 46 per cent in Wellington and 43 per cent in Otago/ Southland.

Students that attended correspondence schools had the highest proportion of school leavers to achieve below level 1 qualifications with 36 per cent, compared to 8 per cent in Otago/Southland and in Wellington, 9 per cent in Auckland, and 10 per cent in Canterbury and the Chatham Islands.

The data showed students in Ma¯ori immersion were having ‘‘remarkable successes’’ higher than all school leavers.

Attainment for Ma¯ ori-medium students in NCEA Level 2 increased by 3.2 per cent to (80.2 per cent) since 2017, and was now higher than mainstream school students (79.4 per cent), 2018 school leaver data released yesterday by the ministry shows.

There were small declines across all school leavers in NCEA levels 1, 2 and 3, but Ma¯ ori immersion success was ‘‘really encouraging’’, deputy secretary Dr Craig Jones said.

The announcement comes after a Stuff investigation into racism in the education sector which highlights Ma¯ori students battling with a largely ‘‘pale, male’’ mainstream education.

Christchurch te reo champion Anton Matthews – an ex-pupil and current board member of Te Kura Kaupapa Ma¯ ori o Te Wha¯ nau Tahi – said he wanted to ‘‘shout from the rooftops’’ how proud he was of what kura kaupapa was doing for Ma¯ ori.

It had ‘‘phenomenal’’ pass rates – largely to do with children being able to

stale and understand their cultural identity, he said.

Jones said the improved achievement of Ma¯ori-medium students demonstrated ‘‘what can be achieved when teachers engage students in their learning by connecting with their identity, language and culture’’ and having high aspirations for Ma¯ ori learners.

There was a 2.7 per cent decrease for overall Ma¯ori school leavers at NCEA Level 2.

From 2009-2018, the largest increase in those attaining at least Level 2 was in Ma¯ ori school leavers, with an increase of 20.1 per cent to 65.8 per cent.

Pacific school leaver Level 2 achievement increased by 18.2 per cent over the 10 years (now 74.6 per cent). European/ Pa¯keha¯ school leaver achievement increased by 9.6 per cent to 82.4 per cent.

‘‘These changes indicate that the disparities between ethnic groups have reduced over time but a large achievement gap remains for Ma¯ori and Pacific students,’’ the report on Education Counts says.

The ministry was working on a number of initiatives to strengthen Ma¯ ori-medium education further, and to support Ma¯ ori and Pacific learners in mainstream schooling, Jones said.

Te Hurihunganui, which received $42m in Budget 2019, aimed to support educators, wha¯nau, hapu¯ and iwi, to strengthen the place of Ma¯ ori language, culture and knowledge, and to engage Ma¯ ori.

Budget 2019 also included $27m, to be invested over four years, to enhance the identity, language and culture of Pacific learners and help build skills and knowledge.

Te reo champion Anton Matthews wants to ‘‘shout from the rooftops’’ how proud he is of what kura kaupapa are achieving.

Sun