Listen Now: 
Download AudioFormer New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says iwi should get involved in getting Māori back to school.
He says many whanau are reluctant to send taitamariki back to schools because of concern about the spread of Covid, but truancy was a problem even before the pandemic.
He wants to see a drive to prepare Maori to be part of the workforce of the future – and that means getting to schools to bring up their level of literacy and numeracy.
Both government and Maori have a part to play.
“It’s absolutely essential the current Government digs deep and quite frankly iwi themselves that have good relationships with their local schools need to ensure people are going in to the schools offering their services and also rounding up the rangatahi who are failing because of truancy,” Mr Jones says
He says it’s a more important issue than putting Maori names on government agencies or arguing about co-governance.
RELATED NEWS
