According to new reports released by the Ministry of Education, the number of Pacific Island students at tertiary level has increased, showing strong progress towards the government’s goal of encouraging more Pasifika students into tertiary education.
Commenting on the key findings, Pacific Island Affairs Minister Luamanuvao Winnie Laban said the number of Pacific Island students at undergraduate-level had increased in 2006 by 3.2 per cent.
“One of the priority outcomes for tertiary education [between 2008 and 2010] is more young New Zealanders achieving qualifications at level four and above by age 25,” Laban explains.
“Progress towards this achievement is illustrated by a 5 per cent increase in Pasifika students under 25 years studying at qualification level 4 from 2005 to 2006.”
The report also showed that the New Zealand Pasifika population holding a tertiary qualification has doubled over the last ten years, with postgraduate and doctorate level qualifications also increasing among Pasifika peoples in 2006.
The challenge ahead, Laban added, was to bring the proportion of Pasifika peoples holding tertiary qualifications closer to that for New Zealand’s population as a whole.