Education for Maori key to BOP

Increasing Maori participation in tertiary education is crucial to the Bay of Plenty's wellbeing and economic growth, according to an action plan aiming to deliver industry-focused education and research in the region.

The Bay of Plenty Tertiary Action Plan has been established to develop a collective vision, strategy and desired actions for tertiary education delivery that's closely aligned with local industry and community needs in the region.


A plan is being hatched to get more Maori taking part in tertiary education.

The plan's first phase has been creating a report consisting of primary research, workshops and interviews with more than 100 key stakeholder and community groups, and a substantial literature review of existing regional, national and international information.

TAP Chairman Bill Wasley says the emerging key themes reinforce the importance of a regional approach.

'The literature review has highlighted that education is an essential component of wellbeing in contemporary society, and that tertiary education provides individuals the best life-long protection against unemployment, low wages and poverty,” says Bill.

The literature review identified key characteristics of greater proportions of Maori in the region than the national average, particularly youth, and a rapidly increasing population aged 50-plus.

Also found to be key is lower income levels than the national average, significant socio-economic imbalances between eastern and western sub-regions, and a lower proportion of residents with tertiary qualifications than the national average.

'Addressing these issues collaboratively at a regional level will have a much greater impact, with resources well-positioned to make a difference for our people and economy,” say Bill.

He says the importance of an effective and genuine collaborative approach is emphasised and virtually unanimous across all studies looked at in the literature review.

'This is especially important in areas like the Bay of Plenty, where the scale of resources, funds, students, staff and relevant organisations are more limited than major cities.

'It is also evident that the impact of tertiary initiatives is greater in non-metropolitan areas – one good person makes a big difference in a smaller place.

'And of course regional policy is important for national benefit, particularly in terms of innovation policy.”

Emerging themes from stakeholder feedback include the need for more engineering skills and entrepreneurship training, addressing needs of mature and older people, increased focus on Maori economic development, encouragement of bespoke solutions, supporting new industry development, and connecting and empowering local people.

Next steps for the TAP include drafting the initial action plan, followed by community consultation and feedback on the draft plan scheduled for mid-August.

For more information, visit www.bayofconnections.com and click on the Sector Strategy tab.

You may also like....

1 comment

Education for Maori Key to BOP

Posted on 31-07-2014 15:46 | By Deborah Cunliffe

Quality tertiary education should be accessible to anyone who wishes to participate. I am not sure education makes people 'good' but it certainly broadens potential horizons. It would be interesting to carry out research into how many people with a tertiary qualification are unemployed or working at a level that does not require a tertiary qualification in the region. We need to 'grow the region' and have jobs ready for those who study.


Leave a Comment


You must be logged in to make a comment.