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National | Education

New qualification to groom Māori excellence

A new Māori qualification for secondary students has been announced by Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis.  Te Kawa Matakura, which Davis says will groom Māori excellence among Māori youth, will receive $2.8mil.

Davis says this is a pilot programme.  20 students will be selected, 10 male and 10 female, from year 11 and above.

The programme will be open to students from mainstream high schools as well as wharekura.

Davis says this is a starting point, and if successful it will be developed further to cater to more students in the future.

“This is a qualification for students who are excelling in aspects of Te Ao Māori, the NCEA qualification will run parallel with the qualification received through Te Kawa Matakura,” says Davis.

While details of the programme are yet to be determined, Davis says it will run in conjunction with tertiary institutions, and that he's looking to consult with experts in Māori knowledge and Māori education about how to best set up the foundations for the program.

“The designated officials will carefully design this initiative and we'll discuss with experts from Te Ao Māori about the final outlook of this programme but we want to launch it in the year 2020,” says Davis.