"There is lack of consideration and acknowledgement of religious backgrounds of the Pacific Islands."
"We need to have more Pasifika ELS/EIT/support staff to discuss for example autism to Pacific families."
Are these important to you?
- Comments are strongly supportive of the areas of focus for the Action Plan
- There is support for anything to do with valuing the Tokelau language
- Community participation and involvement is one of the key factors in Pacific children succeeding
- Cultural backgrounds need to be incorporated in to learning spaces and events like Polyfest should be encouraged. It is important to teacher language and cultural practices
- Parents should be supported to be more involved in schools
- Acknowledging the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community is an important way to minimise discrimination
Is there something missing? What would you change about the areas?
- Better support for children with health and wellbeing issues and Pasifika support staff to support families with children with additional learning support needs and disabilities.
- Language speaking teachers to support the main teacher
- We also need more male Pacific teachers as role models
- Religious learning. Some see the loss of value of religion in education as a threat to learning for Pacific students
- IELTS is a disadvantage to Pasifika people – need to address this
- Need to find a way for more children and young people to study and learn about some of the issues raised through the fono
- Addressing poverty and affordability
Questions
- Why isn’t there free education from ECE?
- Why can’t we continue to use Te Whāriki in Primary School?
Most common indicators of success (in order)
- Pacific learners faiths and beliefs and cultures are valued in education
- Pacific learners and their families are free from racism and discrimination in education
- There are no financial barriers to accessing education for Pacific learners and families
- Pacific learners and their families feel accepted and included
Auckland Tokelau Fono Summary [PDF]