significant disparity

The latest Education Review Office report on maori students really offers an insight into how maori are treated in this country. "Significant disparity" between Māori and non-Māori students - that is what you get for being indigenous and colonised - significant disparity.

So although they state that,

"Improved Māori student achievement has been a key government priority in education over the decade."

This key government priority has been a dismal failure

"...national and international testing data continue to show significant disparity in the achievement of Māori and non-Māori students."

why? simple really

"a substantial proportion of schools do not review their own performance in relation to Māori student achievement."

and the even more compelling reason

"...a sizeable minority of schools consultation with Māori parents and whānau is limited, and Māori parents’ engagement in their children’s education is not valued."

Many people seem to resent maori engagement in any area

"In 2009 Māori made up approximately 22 percent of the students in New Zealand schools with just under 167,000 students. Māori students made up over half of the roll in 19 percent of schools. Māori students made up at least 15 percent of the roll in 60 percent of New Zealand schools.

And for all those students the ERO can offer

"This evaluation highlights that many New Zealand schools are not yet demonstrating sufficient commitment to ensuring the progress and achievement of Māori students."

This is institutional racism and these entrenched systems of inequality must be overthrown. No decent people can sleep well at night while our young indigenous students get discarded by the system.

SIGNIFICANT DISPARITY

Roll that around a bit

teach maori history to bind us together

I agree with this call - seriously how much maori history or history from a maori persepctive did you learn in school? If NONE then that was more than most. It is not good enough. There is rich and interesting history that is OUR history. This maori history is our history - the history of our country, our land.

I would like to see maori history and perspectives as COMPULSORY for all students in this country including english language students, hell - I'd make it compulsory for ALL PEOPLE. Tax breaks when you can recite your whakapapa, or korero in te reo or explain the history of the region you live in. I wonder how many rich people would get the tax breaks then!

Imagine how great this country will be when we are all paddling the waka in unison.

From Waatea News Update

"The head of Maori and Ethnic studies at Canterbury University is backing his counterpart at Victoria University in attacking the quality of history taught in schools.

Rawiri Taonui says Peter Adds is right to say race relations is the loser if children leave school without ever getting a Maori perspective on history.

He says while understanding of Maori culture and language has improved dramatically over the past couple of decades, the new perspectives on history which have come out of the bicultural Waitangi Tribunal investigation process have not made their way into the syllabus.

“If you say to people what happened at the battle of Orakau where Rewi Maniapoto, two or three hundred of his people were killed trying to escape, what happened at Ngatapa where Maori were stripped naked and thrown from cliffs, what happened at Hanley’s Shed in the Whanganui-Taranaki district where colonial cavalry, some of whom were decorated later, charged down a small group of 8-10 year small boys and hacked them to death with sabers. People just don't know that,” Mr Taonui says.

If the public knew more about the history of te Urewera, its attitude toward's Tuhoe's claim for the national park might be quite different.

How do we make positive change in this country? How do we empower indigenous people? How do we respect and support maori? This is one place to start. Let us all learn the history of this land, the people, the legends. This country did not begin in 1840 and it is time we actualised that into our learning at school.

support students

Biased reporting doesn't help anyone.

From scoop

Jacqualene Poutu, Tumuaki of Te Mana Akonga ( the national Māori tertiary students association) is disappointed with

"A sample of three students were interviewed on TVNZ’s Close up programme last Tuesday evening regarding their use of student loan money for investments, instead of using it to survive with."

she rightly says

“The living costs component of student loans may be used as’ play money’ for wealthier students, but unfortunately that is not the reality for the rest of us,”

“The stereotype of the ‘spoilt student’ is few and far between for Māori students. Access to ‘living costs’ are absolutely necessary for many Māori students. Research shows that Māori and Pasifika students are more likely to borrow from the student loan scheme in order to access tertiary education and bridge themselves and whanau out of poverty,”

It is a massive challenge for anyone to got to university and undertake futher skill or vocational training. If we make it too hard by reducing student allowances the students at the bottom with little money will suffer and perhaps drop out. Many maori and pasifika students are represented within that group.

media reporting that is slanted is never good, close up has got worse and worse but people still watch it and i hope they offer more balanced views in the future. I am getting really fed up with the beneficary bashing and the youth bashing from this government. Picking on the most vulnerable is not on.

children are not bricks in the wall

Some good analysis and commentary regarding the national standards for children teachers.

From Lew at Kiwipolitico

"This is not to say that KKM should be denied their national standards trial process. But that is what National should be saying, in order to be consistent. Because the stated reason a similar trial has been repeatedly denied the mainstream education sector is urgency — the sense that we must move swiftly and make the changes so that not one more child will be left behind. This sort of incoherence in policy and rhetoric (or, as it is in this case, between policy and rhetoric) always yields flaws which can and should be exploited, and here’s the flaw in this. One of the two following statements is necessarily true:

"The Government’s justification for rolling out national standards in mainstream schools without a trial period (urgency) is false and misleading, and accordingly the government’s motives in rolling out the trial period are different to their stated motives; or

The Government doesn’t care about kura kaupapa Māori students or schools, and doesn’t consider their educational standards a matter of urgency or substantial importance."

And Gordon Campbell

"The inconsistencies in the government’s stance are extraordinary. Key and Tolley have been steadfastly refusing to let the standards be trialled or piloted in state schools – but incredibly, the government is now willing to do exactly that in kura kaupapa schools."

And Tumeke

"These national standards have NOTHING to do with the educational betterment of NZ's children and has EVERYTHING to do with National implementing free market ideology into education. The standards will be used to create league tables, these league tables will create a false competition, which is what National have aimed for within education since day one."

Children learn at different rates because they are all different. This whole 'standards' approach is incorrect and won't work - but it will create an enemy for the gnats to get stuck into - namely the teachers and their union. I am pleased to read strong commentary against this.

fighting for Aorangi School

no more fun when the school s closed

The fight to stop this school closing will be a tough one i think. tolley seems well out of her depth but she is quite stubborn so getting a change after she has announced the decision to the media, will be a challenge - even if the prime minister used to go there. Shame.

"Christchurch's Aorangi School is taking its fight for survival to the High Court, after a decision to close it was confirmed yesterday.

"It's not over yet, not by a long shot," Aorangi School board of trustees chairman Greg Thompson said last night.

Tolley's decision was met with disbelief, anger and tears yesterday.

The school has 27 staff, including teachers, administrators and teacher aides, now facing unemployment.

Aorangi School principal Stephanie Thompson said the decision defied logic.

"It's always been about what is appropriate for the children. I do not see how this decision is in the best interests of the community and the children."

She said the decision sent a clear message that the National-led Government did not believe a low socio-economic, multicultural part of Christchurch was as important as other groups.

"We've just got to hope that natural justice will occur and that democracy will win over bureaucracy.

"Since when does bureaucracy get to rule over what the people say?

"I didn't think we lived in that society."

I sorry, but that is exactly the society we live in and we need to change. If the people keep getting trod on they will, at some point, say enough is enough and then key and tolley will see the results in the polls - because that seems to be the only way they will listen.