NEW ZEALAND: Drive to lift Maori education

Under-achievement by Maori students will no longer be excusable and the education system will be held responsible, says Maori Affairs and Associate Education Minister Parekura Horomia, reports the New Zealand Herald. He was launching the government’s new Maori education policy, Ka Hikitia, which sets out goals, actions and outcomes over the next five years to lift achievement.

It sets specific targets for 2012 such as:

* Increasing the proportion of school leavers with NCEA level 2 or above from 36% to 55%.
* Increasing school leavers entering tertiary education within two years from 28% to 32%.
* Increasing the retention rate for those in degree programmes from 81% to 88%.
* Increasing Maori school leavers qualified to attend university from 14% to 30%.

Asked if the strategy was an admission something had been wrong for a long time, Horomia said Ka Hikitia was not about criticising teachers but the system did need to take ownership of student achievement.
Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site