Potential Maori and Pasifika trustees sought

Potential Maori and Pasifika trustees sought

It is time for volunteers to stand and be counted for the 2004 Trustee Election campaign, and a key focus is to encourage more Maori and Pasifika trustees.

Elections Project Manager Janet Kelly says it is important that boards are reflective of their school communities, yet representation statistics show there is still work needed to achieve this with Maori and Pasifika trustees.

Ministry of Education figures show that current representation is one Pakeha trustee for 27 Pakeha students, one Maori trustee for 48 Maori students and one Pasifika trustee for 100 Pasifika students.

Janet Kelly says the figures clearly spell out the need for everyone involved in the trustee election campaign to particularly encourage Maori and Pasifika people to put their names forward to become trustees.

“There are national and regional strategies under way, and I am encouraging schools to talk with their Maori and Pasifika communities and get more people to stand.”

She says the number of Maori trustees has been rising, but extra effort is still needed to ensure that these figures continue to increase.

“There remains a lot of work to do to get the number of Pasifika trustees up and we must all work hard to support and encourage these communities.”

Two of the trustees speaking at the Trustee Election launch at Parliament support the call for more Maori and Pasifika people to stand and be counted.

Wainuiomata trustee Anania Randall is one of three Maori trustees on the board of Pukeatua Primary School, and he says many people don’t realise they have just the skills needed to make them valuable as school trustees.

Alfred Ngaru, of Auckland’s Point England School, believes that more needs to be done to tell Pacific parents about how they can become involved in the education of their children. [more] [Maori, Pasifika/2]

He says the trustee elections are a window of opportunity for Pacific people to be able to stand up and be a part of the team that makes the right decisions to ensure that all children have the best possible education, facilities and opportunities for success.

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