Te Hiringa i te Mahara

An update from the Ministry of Education – August 2004 The Government remains committed to its goal of raising achievement and reducing disparity in education. The Ministry of Education's contribution is set out in its Statement of Intent through a focus on three vital outcomes: effective teaching family and community engagement in education quality providers.

Improving teaching and learning and supporting teachers to effectively meet the needs of the growing diversity of students in classrooms is the critical focus. Supporting the supply and the workplace conditions of teachers is part of the process of improving outcomes for all learners.

Te Hiringa i te Mahara is a programme to address issues of workload for Māori teachers and was established in 1998 following a ministerial working party.

On 12 August 2004 the Government announced the first stage of its review of targeted policies and programmes. The Ministry of Education along with the Ministry of Health, the Education Review Office, the Department of Labour, and Ministry of Culture and Heritage are involved in this first stage.

The review is to give Government and the public an assurance that policies and programmes are targeted on the basis of need and not race. Te Hiringa i te Mahara is included in this review.

Evaluations of Te Hiringa i te Mahara programme, including the 2003 evaluation by NZCER (the New Zealand Council for Educational Research), find the programme continues to meet the needs of the target group and contributes to better teaching outcomes.

The Government and the Ministry of Education remain committed to raising Māori educational achievement and to achieve this aim targeted programmes and policies that are effective for these groups will continue. Terms of reference for the review are online at: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ViewDocument.cfm?DocumentID=19259

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