Education officials have been getting whanau into the classroom to give them lessons on secondary school qualifications.
Sessions are being held in Northland to explain NCEA to parents, so they can in turn help their tamariki and rangatahi succeed.
A programme to help parents has been developed by a group of Government departments and the first workshop has been held Kaitaia College in the Far North.
Its careers advisor, Mareea Paitai, says not all whanau have a good grasp of NCEA.
She says it's about empowering the whanau, so they can empower the students.
Ms Paitai says providing information to parents is part of a bigger picture, in which they want Maori students to do better at school.
She says at the moment many children leave college with NCEA Level 1 but the aim is for for very single Maori student to leave school with the minimum qualification of Level 2.