The University Entrance achievement rate for kura students was 41 percent, while the rate for students in mainstream schools was 24 percent. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Students at kaupapa Māori schools attempt more NCEA credits and are more likely to get merit and excellence endorsements than those at comparable mainstream schools.
A Qualifications Authority report shows nearly three-quarters of Year 12 and 13 students at kaupapa Māori schools got NCEA levels 2 or 3 last year.
The briefing for Education Minister Erica Stanford said achievement rates at the schools were better than in comparable English-medium schools.
It said five percent of Māori students in Years 11-13 were enrolled in 64 kaupapa Māori schools last year, and most of those schools were in the bottom group if schools were divided into three groups based on socio-economic disadvantage.
It said the 1857 teens had higher NCEA attainment rates than students of all backgrounds in English-medium schools in the "more socio-economic barriers to attainment" group, especially at level 3 and University Entrance level.
They also were assessed on average for more credits, for more achievement standard credits than unit standard credits, and for slightly more externally-assessed standards.
Students from the kura were more likely to gain merit and excellence endorsements and Scholarship passes than their peers in English-medium schools facing more barriers to achievement.
They had NCEA achievement rates of 63 percent at level 1, 72 percent at level 2 and 73 percent at level 3.
Achievement rates for all students in the comparator group of English-medium schools were 54, 66 and 61 percent and for Māori students in those schools the rates were 50, 64 and 56 percent.
The University Entrance achievement rate for kura students was 41 percent, while the rate for students in comparable mainstream schools was 24 percent for students from all backgrounds and 18 percent for Māori students.
The report said the six subjects with the most credits reported for students in kaupapa Māori schools were English, Maths, Physical Education, Te Ao Haka, Te Reo Māori, and Te Reo Rangatira.
The report said 80 percent of the credits assessed for students in kaupapa Māori settings were from the New Zealand Curriculum, and the remaining 20 percent from Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, the Māori-medium curriculum.
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