The principal of Rotorua's Waiariki Institute of Technology says he is seeing the effects of improved Maori achievement at secondary school in the number of rangatahi (young people) coming through to tertiary level.
Pim Borren says the number of Maori in level four to seven courses at Waiariki is up 20% on last year.
He told Waatea News that teacher development programmes like Te Rangatahi as well as the greater flexibility of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement are making a dent in what looked like intractable problems.
Dr Borren says young Maori increasingly understand that better education can open the door to a better quality of life.
Academic performance being lifted
Meanwhile, Papakura High School, which has a high Maori and Pacific Island roll, is finding improved relationships are lifting academic performance by Maori and Polynesian students.
The school is one of eight in the region involved in Pathways, an Auckland University research project involving academic counselling and mentoring for students.
Project manager Di Corban told Waatea News that in the past secondary-school life has been disconnected from tertiary study and many Maori students have discovered they have no transition path.
She says everyone in the school needs to be involved.
