21 Oct 2011

Anglican training wananga aims to improve performance

7:04 pm on 21 October 2011

A private institute which trains Maori Anglican ministers has failed to meet standards set by the New Zealand Qualification Authority (NZQA).

The NZQA notes in its report on Te Whare Wananga o te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa it is not yet confident in the education performance and self-assessment of the institution.

The Rotorua-based wananga offers two degree programmes, both of which focus on religion in the context of tikanga Maori and the Christian gospel.

The report finds that, while 60% of students successfully completed courses, only 16% obtained a qualification.

Interim chief executive at Te Whare Wananga, Te Hope Hakaraia, admits the results are poor.

He cites a variety of reasons for the failure, such as students being over 40 years of age or not being fully committed to studying.

But, Mr Hakaraia says the institution is looking at ways to improve on its statistics.