Supporting Māori educational achievement

Budget 2011 will provide significant capital and operational funding to strengthen delivery of school and community-based Māori language initiatives, Associate Education Minister Pita Sharples says.

It will also help teachers to engage better with Māori students, improve literacy teaching, and support Kura Kaupapa Māori.

Budget 2011 provides new funding for Māori education:

• $9 million over four years to support iwi to develop school and community-based language initiatives.
• $3 million over three years to support Te Runanganui o nga Kura Kaupapa Māori to develop a curriculum and associated resources based on the philosophy of Te Aho Matua.
• $8 million over four years to realign Kura transport assistance - which has been capped since 1995 - with mainstream schools.

Funding will be reprioritised to the following areas:

• $60 million over four years to build new kura kaupapa Māori and upgrade existing school buildings.
• $6.5 million to expand family-based literacy programmes to all decile one two and three schools, building on the current Reading Together programme.
• $17 million over four years to allow an additional 20 schools to participate in the Te Kotahitanga teacher training programme.

“These initiatives help teachers to engage with whanau to improve Māori achievement at school through better support for students’ identity, language and culture – ingredients for educational success which are often missing,” Dr Sharples says.