Since inception, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has created opportunities
for those whose needs are not met in the mainstream education
system. In the past, this has included Māori and Pasifika tauira and
those whose interests do not lie in the relatively narrow curricula
taught at secondary schools. These people continue to make up a
large proportion of our tauira population.
O
ur people
Although we understand the significant wage
premium attached to degree-level study, and the
Government’s drive to increase participation in higher
level tertiary study, we remain acutely aware of the
unmet and ongoing extreme need for foundation-
level tertiary education across Aotearoa New Zealand.
One-third (33.1%) of our tauira come to us without
qualifications. Many require significant help to build
a foundation of skills before they are ready to embark
on higher level study. These people remain a key
target audience for us.
The majority of our tauira are at least 40 years of
age and have come to realise (through their life
experiences) the value of tertiary education. Although
much work remains with this older age group, we also
acknowledge the importance of engaging tauira at a
younger age. We understand that, if we can engage
tauira as they leave school, we can prevent decades of
disengagement from the tertiary education system. We
also understand that engaging tauira earlier prevents
years of unemployment or underemployment and the
associated negative consequences of this. For these
reasons, under-25 year olds are also a significant
priority learner group for us.
Our strategies
Our strategies remain unchanged in meeting the needs
of our priority learners (Māori, Pasifika and under-25
year old learners) and other key stakeholders. We will
continue to:
• provide avenues for rangatahi to experience
tertiary education in multiple contexts prior
to enrolling
• offer qualifications that attract priority learners
• maintain a low or no fees approach to eliminate
financial barriers to engagement
• maintain national delivery with multiple
delivery options (face-to-face, noho and home-
based learning)
• deliver a wide range of qualifications at NQF
levels 1 to 3 to help re-engaged learners
build confidence
• provide clear and continuous programme
pathways from foundation through to
degree-level study.
In alignment with the Tertiary Education Strategy, we
also aim to increase the proportion of tauira studying
at level 4 and above.
Our success
During 2012, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa performed well
against its performance targets for attracting priority
learners. We exceeded our overall aims for engaging
under-25 year old tauira (13% against a target of
11%) and Pasifika tauira (10% against a target of
10%). We also came within one per cent of achieving
our target for tauira Māori (49% against a target
of 50%).
More significantly, we exceeded targets for enrolling
tauira at level 4 and above across all priority learner
groups. We credit this achievement to a host of
recently introduced programmes in combination with
moves to strengthen and clarify programme pathways.
Other contributing factors include successful targeted
marketing strategies and our solid reputation for
delivering high-quality, well-supported, engaging
education within Māori and Pasifika communities.
The following table shows proportions of EFTS
consumed by Māori, Pasifika and under-25 year old
learners as a proportion of total EFTS consumed by
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa during 2012.
Attracting and engaging priority learners
Te pŪrongo 2012
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