Since inception, Te Wānanga
o Aotearoa has created
opportunities for those who
seek a different, inclusive
approach to education
steeped in tikanga Māori and
āhuatanga Māori. Historically,
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has
attracted large numbers of
tauira with no qualifications
and those of Māori and
Pasifika descent.
Attracting and engaging
priority learners
Our tauira
We understand the wage premium attached to degree-level study and
the government’s focus on increasing qualification attainment at NQF
level 4 and above. However, a large number of people in Aotearoa New
Zealand have not had the opportunity to gain foundation education,
and it is this group of people that still remain a focus for Te Wānanga o
Aotearoa. The majority of our tauira (52%) are over the age of 40 and
35% of our tauira come to us without qualifications.
Whilst we acknowledge the needs of older students, we also recognise
the benefits of engaging tauira as they leave school so we can prevent
the disengagement from further education and unemployment.
Therefore, as in previous years under 25 year olds also remains a
priority group of learners.
Our strategies
Our strategies to attract and engage our priority groups of learners
have remained unchanged since 2012 and are now showing results.
Strategies included:
• development of new qualifications that map to the Vocational
Pathways framework
• maintenance of a low or no fees approach to eliminate financial
barriers
• provision of educational pathways from foundation to degree level
• appropriate pastoral and academic support that reflects the needs of
the needs of Māori, Pasifika and youth
Our achievements
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa performed well against its performance
targets for 2013 and achieved seven of the nine targets. We met the
target for engaging Pasifika across all NQF levels and for those aged
under 25 years studying at level 4 and above. We exceeded the target
for enrolling tauira Māori at level 1 to 3 by 1%. This was achieved
through building a suite of programmes that attract this demographic
of tauira and a reputation for providing an environment where success
is achievable.
As per our Investment Plan, the data related to the proportion of
EFTS enrolled aged under 25 show the results for SAC funded EFTS
only and does not include tauira funded under the Youth Guarantee
Programme. If these tauira are included, our tauira demographic
changes substantially to 17% of under 25 year olds studying at NQF
level 1 to 3 and 16% of tauira from this age group are studying at NQF
level 4 and above. We did not achieve the target for tauira Māori at all
levels by 1%, this variance is acceptable within our planning process.
