ACE continues to propose that a key goal of the schooling system is to support and nurture young people to become skilled and confident lifelong learners.

We note that submissions to date have strongly supported this, and we continue to propose this.  Our experience is that adults who have not acquired strong learning to learn skills, aren’t confident in education settings struggle to gain and develop their skills and knowledge to position themselves to meet their aspirations across their economic, family and community dimensions of their lives.

Whanganui Learning Centre Trust and Tupoho Whanau Trust have published their report on Participation, Retention and Progression of Māori Tertiary Learners in the Whanganui Region.

Support for this work was provided by Ako Aotearoa through its Regional Hub Project Funding scheme.

The report notes that participation, retention and progression of Māori learners in tertiary education are key concerns nationally.  In Whanganui learning outcomes for Māori locally have declined over the past five years, and remain below those of non-Māori.