Islanders ‘need support’

Press, 30 August 1989, Page 4

Islanders ‘need support’

PA Wellington Many Pacific Island students fail in schools because their families lack knowledge of what is needed to succeed, the principal of Mana College, Mr John Russell, says. “The parents are committed to the idea of education. They believe it’s a fine thing and they want their children to succeed, but there’s a limited understanding of what this involves,” he said. Children got verbal support to do well but it was not followed through with encouragement to study or enough contact with the school.

National figures for School Certificate passes in 1987 showed that 65.7 per cent of Pacific Island students received grades of B2 or below. B2 is the examination’s middle mark.

Maori students had similarly low achievement but only 29.7 per cent of pakeha students scored below 82. Asian students scored higher than pakeha students.

Mr Russell said the secondary educa-

tion system required students to try hard as individuals to succeed, with help and support from home. “In Pacific Island and Maori homes, learning and communication is a community or a social group experience. “Take homework. We have to accept that in many Pacific Island homes homework is usually done in the lounge, in front of television, with five or six others in the room.”

Poor English skill was a problem for many Pacific Island students. Other failure factors were poor literacy and numeracy skills.

Mana College had several ways to help, but the biggest problem was lack of contact with parents. Barriers between Pacific Island parents and schools were mostly caused by parents’ lack of confidence dealing with a foreign school system. “They are unsure about the palagi (pakeha) teachers. It’s especially hard for the parents who were educated in the islands, where the teacher was a very important person.’’