28 H U M A N R I G H T S COMMISSION | A FAIR GO FOR ALL? Structural discrimination in the education system Everyone has the right to an education ... Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26 Despite numerous government initiatives, Mäori and Pacific peoples continue to experience significant disadvantage in terms of educational outcomes. This section will have poor concentration and so on – despite research that discredits this. Many of those interviewed in the education sector believe it is time to address some of the structural elements that may be connected to these disparities. The Commission heard that “deficit theorising shuts down any other conversation about structural factors that impact Mäori students” and that structural discrimination is the “elephant in the room” when talking about ethnic inequalities. draw connections between some of the persistent Moving away from deficit theory approaches means not ethnic inequalities in the education sector and structural looking at Mäori and Pacific students as the problem, discrimination, and considers early childhood, primary, but rather examining the structures and systems as key secondary and tertiary education. contributors to educational inequity. A recent University Participation in Early Childhood Education for Pacific children is improving. However, Pacific new entrants at school still have the lowest prior participation rates in Early Childhood Education at 85.3 per cent compared with 98.1 per cent for Päkeha children, 96.7 per cent for Asian children and 89.4 per cent for Mäori children.124 of Auckland study described the faulty definition of “the problem” in a recent paper: “our Pasifika children’s history of low achievement in the New Zealand educational system ... is not the children’s failure but the failure of the educational system.” The researchers go on to point out that educational policies targeting Pacific “low levels of literacy,” actually refer to low levels of English In the area of compulsory education, Pacific expulsion literacy. These policies therefore do not acknowledge the rates are four times higher than for Päkehä students. The importance of bilingual/multilingual education and the suspension rate for Mäori students is three times higher multilingual homes of many Pacific students.129 than for Päkehä students. 125 Approximately 50 per cent of Mäori students leave school without any educational qualifications, compared to 21 per cent of the overall population.126 The Ministry of Education has developed Ka HikitiaManaging for Success as a core strategy to raise the performance of the education system for Mäori learners. This strategy provides a framework for system wide change In the tertiary sector, while the number of Mäori students and a basis for conversations about the nature of structural gaining university entrance has increased between 2004 discrimination in the educational system and how these to 2008, the gap between the number of Mäori and non- can be addressed. An interviewee clarified that one of the Mäori gaining university entrance has actually widened.127 key premises of Ka Hikitia is that the system is failing Mäori Mäori enrol in tertiary education in lower numbers than students, not that Mäori students are failing the system. other groups. Of all ethnic groups, Pacific peoples have the smallest proportion of degrees or higher qualifications. In 2006, the overall English literacy and numeracy of the adult Pacific population was lower than that of other ethnic groups. Pacific peoples are about half as likely as the total population to achieve a higher-level qualification by the age of 25. They are only a third as likely to achieve a bachelor’s degree by this age.128 As in other areas, the gaps in educational achievement between Mäori, Pacific and Päkeha students is still sometimes explained using a deficit theory approach – that is, that the students themselves lack innate ability or Educationalist Paul D. Goren made observations and commentary on the initial implementation of Ka Hikitia in a 2009 report. He noted the positive work underway to serve the needs of Mäori learners, respecting culture, identity and language. He also commented on the challenge faced: The challenge with a policy framework like Ka Hikitia is to change attitudes, thinking, and behaviours in order to improve outcomes for all Mäori learners. This means changing hearts and minds rather than solely instituting new compliance requirements.