Insight for Sunday 2 March 2014

Pasifika students are the learners most at risk of failing to achieve in New Zealand schools, according to national and international assessments.

At primary school, they are bottom of the national standards. Despite big improvements, Pasifika secondary students still lag behind the national average for school leavers with Level 2 NCEA.

Since 2009, the Government has called for an urgent focus on lifting school performance for Pasifika students - to 85 percent achieving national standards and NCEA Level 2 by 2017.

The Education Review Office says so far, disappointingly few schools are actually doing what's needed.   

But some schools are finding the recipe for Pasifika success.

Our Pacific Issues correspondent, Karen Mangnall, visits schools in Auckland that are bucking their low-decile status to raise Pasifika achievement, sometimes dramatically.

Image courtesy of Pasifika Medical Association