Te Waipounamu iwi Ngai Tahu has invested $900,000 into extra tuition for its school children.
The out-of-school tuition programme funds private lessons for most school aged students for a term, at places such as Kip McGrath and Number Works.
More than 1600 students have gone through the scheme since it started in 2000 - at a cost of about $900,000 to the runanga.
Its spokesperson Andrew Scott says the programme is becoming more popular, with 380 students taking part last year alone.
He says a lot of whanau are reporting increased confidence and better problem-solving skills for their tamariki, which he says improves their overall well-being in the future.
Mr Scott says the iwi is looking at ways to expand the programme, such as marae based tuition.
