EDUCATION OF MAORIS

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30152, 8 June 1963, Page 18

EDUCATION OF MAORIS

Concern At Standard

The April issue of the journal. "Education,” says that out of all non-Maoris who left school in 1961, one in three had qualified for School Certificate or better, but of the total Maori schoolleavers the same year, only one in 16 had reached this standard, says the chairman of the Maori Education Foundation board of trustees (Mr D. G. Ball). in a statement issued by the Education Department. The statement also says that statistics disclose that appreciably fewer Maori children than non-Maori children remain at postprimary school for three years or more.

Mr Ball says he is concerned at the implications at these figures. “Though the figures relate only to pupils of half Maori blood or more the non-Maori group therefore includes those pupils of less than half Maori blood. The picture is not encouraging.” The analysis shows that those concerned with the educational welfare of Maori children must intensify efforts to overcome conditions obviously handicapping many of these children, Mr Ball concludes.