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The chair of the Iwi Education Authority is holding up a small school in the Eastern Bay of Plenty as an example of the positive results that come from iwi involvement.
The authority held its annual meeting at Torere, and Toby Curtis says participants were invited to observe classes at Te Kura ō Torere.
He says Ngāi Tai kaumatua have become a part of school life, teaching life skills as well as community responsibility and tribal history.
Mr Curtis says it’s the sort of interaction that most schools lack.
"The only adults the children come into contact with are generally teachers but when it is from the community and they talk about their experiences and the way they live, it enables the children to see their world that's waiting them and the skills that they can develop in order to capitalise on what the world has to offer, not just Torere, not just Aotearoa, but what the world has to offer," he says.
Toby Curtis says the answer to Māori educational under-achievement is more kura ā iwi and kura kaupapa Māori.
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