Flavell Te Ururoa: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:635;Page:6503] 
11.  
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: How does the Minister account for Maori students being nearly three times as likely as non-Maori to leave school with little or no formal attainment? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 The Government inherited an education system that clearly did not meet the needs of Maori as the member will know. We have set ourselves the very clear goal of transforming that system to ensure Maori do succeed. That has included major research on what works for Maori students such as the work by Russell Bishop which I am sure the member is familiar with; the Hui Taumata process which is now in its fifth year and involves educators from all over the country; many new resources such as the $26 million for te reo; and the Maori education strategy that the member I am sure has hold of. Of course I have to draw to the member’s attention that resolving the issues of education of Maori will not just be an education issue. It will relate to family responsibility parenting skills housing employment—large numbers of things will come into the success story. But certainly we are doing our bit. 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: Is the Minister concerned that more than 61 percent of all schools are unable to provide consistent evidence of improved learning outcomes for Maori students that 17 percent can provide no evidence and that in fact only 9 percent had substantial evidence of improved outcomes for Maori over time; and given this what commitment is he prepared to make to improve the achievement of Maori students? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I draw the member’s attention back to my first answer which shows that the Government has over the last 7 years certainly shown its commitment. I think one of the things that helps with the ongoing measurement is for example the annual report on Maori education that I have here in my hand. While that report does show that some schools are not very good at reporting on these particular issues we do now have a very good record of achievement over the past 7 years. Members can see that there is steady progress. I repeat it will not just be education that makes the difference here. Something as fundamental as family life comes into this as well. But steady progress has been made over the last 7 years. 
Hon Marian Hobbs 
: What have been the improvements in Maori achievement under a Labour-led Government? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: There has been in the words of Mason Durie “a major transformative experience for the education sector” under the policies of the Labour-led Government. Many more students are achieving qualifications under the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). In 2002 35 percent of Maori school-leavers left with low attainment; by 2004 this had dropped to 25 percent. In 2004 12 percent of Maori school-leavers achieved the university entrance qualification or better up from 8 percent in 2002. Now of course Maori are moving on to tertiary education at a higher rate than the population as a whole. 
Pita Paraone 
: Tena koe Madam Speaker. Can the Minister confirm that the percentage of Maori leaving school with little or no formal attainment dropped from 34.9 percent to 25.4 percent from 2002 to 2004; and while the figure for Maori is double that for all school leavers there has in fact been a positive move in the right direction? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Yes I can confirm that those figures are there. It is steady improvement; it will not be radical because there is a complex of reasons why Maori underachievement has been there but we are getting on top of it. To the member who asked before for Mason Durie’s quote I refer him to  
Maori Achievement: Anticipating the Learning Environment 
 of the Hui Taumata Matauranga in 2004 for the full quote. Of course he could also just ring him. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Can the Minister confirm that the annual report on Maori education claims that a review of three ethnically targeted parent support and development programmes—two targeted at Maori—found that risk factors such as parental education and socio-economic status were far more accurate predictors of poor educational outcomes than ethnicity? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Yes that is absolutely right and it is why for example programmes such as the SKIP programme have been so successful not just for the families in parenting but it has followed on to schools which recognise the change in the behaviour of the students. 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: Does the Minister agree with the Minister of Maori Affairs who said in this House yesterday that “What has to be understood … is that Maori are decreasing in the negative statistics three to four times quicker than Pakeha.”; if so how does he account for the fact that NCEA levels for Maori students remain significantly lower than for non-Maori students in years 11 12 and 13? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: In the way that I have accounted before. I think we have had a system that has not served Maori well because they have been asked to fit into the system rather than the system addressing their particular learning needs. But on top of that I think we are talking about the issues raised by Mr Donnelly; for example parenting family background the fact that people often come from homes where there is not a high level of education and they are often in lower socio-economic groups. These are very complex issues as the member I know knows but I also understand that he knows that we are doing what we possibly can in the education area right now and we are seeing steady positive results. 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: Does the Minister agree with his official Rawiri Brell who stated in today’s select committee that the ministry advocates learning to be by communities of communities and for communities; if so does he agree that it would logically follow that for Maori communities “by Maori of Maori for Maori” is a worthwhile goal that should be supported; if not why not? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I agree it is a worthwhile goal but I point out that what really makes the difference for any student is not that we simply have by/for Pakeha or by/for Tongan or by/for Maori but the experience in the classroom of teaching and learning. Regardless of the setting there still has to be effective teaching. So yes I agree it is a worthwhile goal but I would still want to add on top of that good leadership in the schools good resourcing effective teaching and all the components that go towards a good education.