Tuia Te Ako: Ako Aotearoa Inaugural National Hui for Maori Tertiary Education Te Ururoa Flavell, Education Spokesperson for the Maori Party

Friday 13 August 2010; 9am

There is nothing better for the soul than picking up the paper and reading the breaking news – which hundreds of Maori tertiary education representatives are gathering for a two-day hui to brainstorm about how to make advances in their sector.

From all accounts the news from this inaugural national hui for Maori tertiary education has been all good.

Ngahiwi Apanui was reported as calling for a focus on Maori advancement – not just through settlement assets or business opportunities - but through giving emphasis to the skills acquired through tertiary education as vital for the continued management and sustainability of Maori resources.

Professor Sir Mason Durie laid the challenge that how highly the nation valued indigeneity in the future would have a significant bearing on the future success of Maori in tertiary education.

Sir Mason also talked about the need to shift from having "strong loyalties to institutions to having strong loyalties to students, and follow students rather than follow institutions".

And I know, without even having read his paper, that Matua Whatarangi would have challenged us to consider the progress we were making in the reconciliation between kawanatanga and rangatiratanga – how are the aspirations of whanau, hapu and iwi being enhanced and advanced by the alignment with tertiary education initiatives?

The consistent challenge and the motivation set by our educational mentors inspire in us all the reason to be here today. It is these very same leaders that the great Te Arawa mathematician and physicist Sir Isaac Newton referred to when he said “if I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”.

And so I want to firstly acknowledge the debt of our generations, and those yet to come, for the scholars, the academics, the brilliant minds of so many Maori educationalists who have paved the way for us to be here today.
You have established such a strong base for our mokopuna to thrive through the success and growth of kaupapa Maori education initiatives such as kohanga reo, kura kaupapa Maori, wharekura, and wananga.

You have carved a pathway to prosperity on all fronts, through believing our strength lies in te reo rangatira, tikanga Maori and the involvement and ownership of whanau, hapu and iwi.

We must never overlook the enormous influence that such initiatives have had in securing our learners with the knowledge of their identity, language and culture.
In tertiary education, specifically, the pioneering spirit of those who pushed ahead with the Waitangi Tribunal claim 718 has been realised through the fact that wananga are now funded on the same basis as other tertiary institutions.
I wanted to take a moment to celebrate our successes, because sometimes I think we spend so long examining the gaps that we forget to acknowledge the incredible progress that has been made.

And so I want to really acknowledge the fact that in 2008, the age-standardised tertiary education participation rate for Maori was highest at 16.9 percent – way ahead of the Asian population (12.4%); Pasifika peoples (11.8%) and Europeans (11.4%).

This is a massive increase from just a decade earlier when the Maori tertiary education participation rate was sitting on 7.2%.

There is, however, a bit of a trap in these figures.

For in the peak tertiary education age group – 18-19 years – the Asian and European ethnic groups had considerably higher participation rates than Maori and Pasifika peoples – but at older ages, it was the Maori rates that were considerably higher than those of all other ethnic groups.
On one hand, we know that wananga have attracted Maori learners not previously engaged with tertiary education – and that is something to be proud of.

But Māori students were less likely to be enrolled in degree-level courses than students from the Asian or European ethnic groups.
Māori are under-represented in higher-level qualifications. And of those who do pursue further study, their completion rates are lower than many other groups.

So the biggest challenge yet to confront, is how and what do we do, to make it easier, to set the expectation, that Maori school-leavers will successfully bridge the transition from school to further education?

And I come back to the wisdom of Sir Professor Mason Durie, who has cautioned us that we separate secondary and tertiary education at our peril, because if the secondary system is not performing well it limits enormously who will come into tertiary education.

And the hard truth is that too many of our rangatahi in the 14-18 year old age group have disengaged from education.

A couple of weeks back I attended a series of hui that seemed to say exactly the same thing, no doubt the same korero that has also been laid down here.

These were hui with the education sector unions, one hui focused on Iwi Partnerships, one on Community Based Language (Maori) Initiatives and one was for Kaiako Maori from Immersion Education focussing on Literacy.

At every one of these hui we debated the challenge laid down by Deputy Secretary Maori Education, Apryll Parata, that Ka Hikitia at its half way point is failing to deliver positive outcomes to address the educational crisis of our people.

You will recall that Ka Hikitia (Managing for Success 2008-2012) is the Maori Education strategy which “sets out the Ministry of Educations strategic approach to achieving educational success for and with Maori”.

And yet two years into a four year roll out, we are told that the strategy is making little if any impact; and that there are no reliable measures in place to really be able to assess what is and is not working.

The annual education report, Nga Haeata Matauranga, confirms that there has been little movement in addressing Maori under-achievement. The education data in areas such as truancy, suspension and expulsion demonstrate the levels of endemic system failure.

So how does the tertiary education system pick up from the circumstances of crisis, and make the difference we need?

The unique place of Māori as tāngata whenua and as Treaty partners is acknowledged in the Tertiary Education strategy.

Well that’s great - but how do we move from platitudes to pragmatism; how do we open up the opportunities to ensure our students experience success? It’s one thing to talk about Treaty partnerships – but what progress has been made in the delivery?

We all know that the education system has been underperforming for Māori students and their whānau for too long. This must change urgently.

This hui has issued the wero, that all tertiary education providers must take responsibility for strengthening Māori education. As part of their responsiveness strategies, tertiary institutes need to focus on improving the pastoral care, academic support and learning environments available to Māori students. And they must adopt teaching practices that are culturally responsive.

A key priority for me, is the importance of cultural competency standards to ensure the quality of services, access and outcomes are available to all. It is about creating a future where whanau can determine what is in their best interests; and when our institutes show the courage to trust in our own locally developed solutions.

It is about backing all of our students to reach their potential, to ensure that the doors to the world wide web of knowledge are flung wide open.

But in order to open those doors, we must invest in the literacy, language and numeracy skills to pave the way to higher level study or skilled employment.

We have to think laterally, about how to bring the people onboard, while also meeting their basic needs to sustain a decent wage to maintain their whanau commitments. It’s about the capacity to earn while you learn - strengthening literacy and numeracy skills while working towards a qualification that creates opportunities for further study or work.

That might mean tertiary education institutes have to invest in key support staff, such as those focused on improving levels of literacy and numeracy.

Or before we even get to the tertiary sector, we should be investing in initiatives such as mobile literacy and numeracy services that can reach children, parents and whanau wherever they are.

I want to really emphasize the importance of getting creative, being proactive in considering new opportunities that will make the difference.

I am really excited about the momentum that has gathered through the creation of the Matauranga Iwi leadership Group. In essence this is an initiative driven by iwi as the Treaty partner, taking up the challenge to assume a key role in the education of their uri.

So we have leadership such as the Tuhoetanga curriculum promoted by the Tuhoe Education Authority in their fifteen kura.

Or in another part of the amazing Waiariki electorate, we know that Tuwharetoa are negotiating with all kura in their rohe on the teaching of aspects of Tuwharetoa Tukuihotanga.

The Maori Party welcomes – and celebrates the growing reality of iwi as an emerging force and key player in education. And it is great to see that the treaty relationship between iwi and the Crown is finally being given the recognition it deserves.

The Maori Party has long held out our belief that because iwi are major contributors to the economy, and like everyone else need a literate and numerate workforce, a number of new iwi services could be funded or at very least, investigated for their feasibility.

We want to see greater freedom to supplement Maori educational outcomes with whanau, hapu and iwi models of education.

We have to look wider at ways in which we can capitalise on the potential of all of our young people to be the very best we can be.

We must not become complacent, and assume that the Maori tertiary education profile is only for adult learners who are taking up their entitlement to education later in life. We must retain and grow our Maori tertiary population for those who come into the category of ‘second chance’ – AND for those who we might define as ‘first chance’ – the cohort fresh out of school.

We must be bold, be inventive; combine training opportunities with education pathways, and invest in iwi/education partnerships which support Maori educational excellence.

All the evidence tells us that acknowledging and advancing Māori language, culture and identity is necessary for success at all levels of education.

We want an education system in which Māori students can flourish at all levels.

We must continue to work hard to ensure our tertiary institutions support Māori living and learning as Māori in both Te Ao Māori and in society generally.

And importantly, we must not forget that if we as a nation, seek to improve productivity and strengthen the economy, than better educational outcomes for all our young people are the recipe for success.

Finally, if there is one word I would like you to remember from my thoughts today, it is connection.

The connection between what happens at school and tertiary education pathways.

The connection between what is relevant and meaningful to whanau Maori, and what is valued and taught in the education system.

The connection between identity, language and culture.

The connection between the aspirations of whanau, hapu and iwi and the educational standards of the system framework.

And lastly –and most importantly – the connection between what all of you are doing out there – and what we in the Maori Party can take up across the road. I am here to remind you that we can only be as good as the ideas and aspirations you want us to pursue.

Our reason for being is to open the doors to the debating chamber, to ensure that the initiative and the intelligence of key stakeholders such as Maori tertiary education providers helps to shape and influence the future horizons of Aotearoa.

Ultimately our capacity to connect with each other; the priority our workforce places on cultural competency; and the consistency with which we invest in literacy and numeracy skills, will be the strongest footing for our future ahead.

We must continue to keep this vision firmly at the centre of all that we do – we owe it to the giants before us – and the mokopuna after us – to keep education high on our collective agenda.

ENDS

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