April 29, 2013
Cost of education failure counted
The developer of a programme that has boosted the achievement of Māori students in mainstream secondary schools is rejecting suggestions it is too expensive to continue.
Associate Education Minister Pita Sharples cited cost as one of the reasons for axing Te Kotahitanga and replacing it with a cheaper programme to make teachers aware of Māori cultural values.
Professor Russell Bishop from Waikato University says his programme is less costly than the alternative.
“Half our prison inmates are Māori. 35 percent of youth unemployed are Māori. Are these not expensive? Bailing out the South Canterbury Finance to the tune of over a billion dollars, is that not expensive? It’s where your priorities lie”.
Russell Bishop says New Zealand has a terrible record of scrapping programmes that work for Māori, rather than making them more widely available.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd