Pasifika

NZEI says many schools and EC centres will find it hard to swallow government claims about the success of the Pasifika Education Plan.

The government says a mid-term review of the Pasifika Education Plan is showing positive results.

The University of Canterbury has increased its scholarship funding for 2012 and beyond by more than a third. This includes increased scholarships that support Maori and Pasifika students at UC and Emerging Leaders.

PPTA has voted to support a national languages policy in a bid to prevent Pasifika languages from dying out.

The ‘Mind your language’ conference paper was developed by PPTA’s Komiti Pasifika in response to the demise of Pacific Island languages among NZ’s Pasifika population – an issue that was raised at PPTA’s Pasifika ‘Niu Generation’ conference last year.

“After the first day at Porirua College I wondered what I’d got myself into. I couldn’t pronounce many of the students’ or teachers’ names, I had no idea of their background and little idea of where to start in terms of building relationships with them – well, without sounding a bit thick or ignorant… at this point I knew I had a challenge ahead of me,” Helen Hardwick (HOD PE Porirua College).

The University of Auckland has appointed NZ’s first Associate Dean, Pasifika to the Faculty of Education. Dr Meaola Amituanai-Toloa has taken up the role.