Flavell Te Ururoa: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 12 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8445. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
Tena koe Mr Chair. Kia ora tatou katoa. I would like to focus my korero if I can in my call on the very last paragraph of the 2011-12 financial review of the Ministry of Education—the one that is entitled “Achieving educational success as Maori”. It is probably timely to do so given that there was plenty of international attention given to this issue by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination during its 82nd session in Geneva. 
On 21 and 22 February this year the Government’s performance in implementing the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was considered. One of the key recommendations from the committee was that “the State party consider strengthening its special measures to increase the level of educational attainment of Maori and Pasifika children in particular by focusing its measures at addressing the root causes of absenteeism and the high dropout rates in schools.” 
We know that Maori students make up about 22 percent of the total school population and that is a very significant reason on its own let alone the Treaty argument that I could suggest for the protection of all of our taonga with one of them being tamariki the upholding of article 3 relating to citizenship rights and the requirement of article 1 for an effective and responsible Government. 
So it is pleasing to see in New Zealand’s report to the United Nations that support from family and whanau can influence educational achievement. Whanau are more likely to feel alienated from the mainstream schooling system and are less likely to engage with educators due to their own negative educational experiences of schooling so engaging whanau and parents in ways that support children’s learning is definitely a priority as I understand it for the Government and the Maori Party absolutely supports that. 
The Government report also recognises the persistence of inequalities that face Maori and Pasifika in education as spoken to by the Hon Nikki Kaye and that it is essential for the future of New Zealand that these inequalities be addressed. That I hope is going to be the focus in the next couple of years left in this term. 
 So with all that good intent there are some things that we need to address. It is pretty disheartening that a few pages on from the reference that I made earlier we read that 74 percent of European students leave school with National Certificate of Educational Achievement level 2 or above and less than half of Maori students—47.8 percent to be precise—enjoy that same status. Under those circumstances we have got a lot of work to do still and a lot of things are still to come. There are still concerning trends with regard to absenteeism including the above-average rates of truancy absenteeism and early departure from the school system very often without any qualifications at all. 
I want to come back to the financial review in which the ministry told the Education and Science Committee that its approach requires schools to engage with whanau in ways that are culturally appropriate by adopting the culture of the learner and reflecting it back to the school. It is also committed so says the report to helping boards of trustees in schools in implementing that vision. 
Under those circumstances we need to know then how effectively and actively Tataiako the guidelines on cultural competency is being implemented. This is a programme that was developed through the relationship between the Maori Party and the National Party. It has plenty going for it. It was developed over a year ago and yet we still need to have the full implementation of that particular programme. 
To highlight the whole involvement of whanau within the education system I want to bring to the attention of the Committee one particular kura called Te PihipihingaKakano Mai iRangiatea Kura Kaupapa Maori. It is located in New Plymouth. It was the kura that my wife and I were associated with when it first started. It celebrated 20 years last year. Like many other kura what came about was that the first 2 years of that kura were very much in fact without Government funding. It did not have any. The whanau fund-raised to keep the school going. I remember folding newspapers the  
Taranaki Daily News 
 in New Plymouth and getting those ready to be dispersed to try to get money to pay our teachers. 
I think that shows just how much dedication whanau are prepared to give towards providing total immersion education for their tamariki. We must continue to attempt to mobilise whanau and not to make them work just simply to keep the kura alive. But in fact at the end of the day it is about improving Maori education.