Māori students are significantly overrepresented in alternative education settings, as a new Education Review Office report warns thousands of young people are being failed by a fragmented and under-resourced system.
ERO’s Bridging the Gap report found more than 8,000 students aged 12 to 16 are learning in settings such as Alternative Education, Activity Centres, residential care and Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu’s Engagement and Wellbeing gateway.
The number has doubled over the past decade, with Māori comprising 58 percent of students in the settings reviewed.
Students typically lose 13 weeks of learning while waiting to enter alternative education. Fewer than one in six successfully return to mainstream school, while 82 percent of students aged 17 or older leave without an NCEA qualification.
ERO also found that 60 percent of referrals came from just 12 percent of schools. Fewer than half of educators working in Alternative Education hold a teaching qualification, while almost half of students said they had no clear pathway after leaving.
Labour Māori education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said the findings were distressing and accused the Government of failing to present a clear response.
“I was saddened to see that report,” Prime said.
“In my view, this Government has no strategy to improve that situation. I am yet to hear from the Minister what the strategy of this Government is.”
Prime said the Government should invest in early, whānau-centred programmes that support children before they disengage. She also criticised changes affecting specialist education roles, including Resource Teachers: Māori and literacy support.
Education Minister Erica Stanford described the findings as “disappointing, but not unexpected”.
“We’ve known for a long time that alternative education is failing kids, and predominantly Māori and Pacific kids,” Stanford said.
She said the Government had begun work to reimagine alternative education and had discussed the issue with its Māori Education Ministerial Advisory Group.
Stanford said a redesigned system could offer practical and recognised pathways, including driver licensing, heavy-vehicle qualifications and stronger connections with polytechnics, further education and employers.
However, she did not announce a specific implementation timeline or new funding during the interview.
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the Government’s wider education approach remained too narrow and did not recognise that different students required different pathways.
“There is no single pathway,” Waititi said.
“The Government must respond to the needs of the people. That is where the wellbeing of our tamariki and mokopuna will be found.”
ERO has recommended urgent action to help schools retain students, alongside a nationally coherent alternative education model. It wants funding to reflect the complexity of students’ needs, qualified teachers in every setting, access to the full curriculum and stronger academic and vocational pathways.
The Government says reform work is beginning. Its political opponents say Māori students cannot afford to keep waiting.