How we're progressing

Early childhood education

• Participation in early childhood education (ECE) has continued to improve. In 2011 there were 11,061 Pasifika children aged 2 to 4 years enrolled in licensed early childhood services. The 2012 target is 11,103 enrolments. 
• In 2010, the number of Pasifika children in early intervention services was 751. The target for 2012 is 813. The average age of a first referral to early intervention services in 2010 for a Pasifika child was 3 years 7 months. The target for 2012 is that the average age of intervention should reduce to 3 years and 1 month. 
• In 2011 65.3 percent of Pasifika early childhood teachers were registered teachers. It is forecast that by 2012, the proportion of Pasifika teachers who are registered will be the same as non-Pasifika ECE teachers. 
• The number of registered Pasifika ECE teachers in 2011 was 1,120. The target for registered Pasifika teachers in 2012 is 1,208.

Compulsory education 

• 87 percent of all 2010 Pasifika school leavers achieved the NCEA level 1 literacy and numeracy requirements. The forecast position for 2012 is that the target of 93 percent will be met. 
• 68 percent of all 2010 Pasifika school leavers achieved NCEA level 2 or above; the forecast position for 2012 is that the target of 75 percent will be met. This remains below that of non-Pasifika students.
• The target of 30 percent of all Pasifika school leavers achieving a university entrance standard has been met. It is expected that the proportion of students leaving school with university entrance will continue to increase to 35 percent by the end of 2012. 
• There has been a marked improvement in age standardised suspension rates for Pasifika students with 17.5 percent decrease from 8.0 to 6.6 per 1,000 between 2009 and 2010. It is expected that in 2012 a reduction to 5.7 per 1,000 will be achieved. 
• The age-standardised expulsion rate for Pasifika students in 2010 was 3.9 per 1000 students, a decrease of 20 percent since 2008. The target however, was 1 per 1,000 Pasifika student expulsions. 
• Pasifika students make up 10 percent of state school rolls, yet only 2.7 percent of all state teachers identify as Pasifika. While Pasifika teachers continue to be under-represented in the school sector, this is improving. It is forecasted that the target of 1,520 Pasifika teachers, a 20 percent increase from 1,267 teachers in 2008, will be met in 2012. 
• In 2011, only 32.9 percent of schools in which Pasifika representation on the schools board of trustees would be expected had such representation. The target was that 100 percent of these schools would have such representation.

Tertiary education

• In 2010, the number of Pasifika people aged 18 to 24 years in level 4 qualifications and above increased to 26.9 percent. It is forecast that this participation rate for Pasifika students will exceed the target of 27 percent in 2012. 
• Pasifika students aged 18 to 24 years who first enrolled in 2009, in 2010 had a first-year retention rate of 75.6 percent; exceeding the target for 2012 of 75 percent. There is, however, a large and stable gap between Pasifika and non-Pasifika retention rates. 
• Of the Pasifika students aged 18 to 24 years who began a qualification at level four or above in 2005, 39.9 percent completed this qualification in 2010. It is estimated that the Pasifika five-year completion rate will increase to 40.2 percent in 2012 for those who started study in 2007 which is below the target of 43 percent. 
• In 2010, the participation rate in postgraduate study by Pasifika students was 0.71 percent. The target participation rate for Pasifika students in postgraduate study is one percent. For 2012 the rate is forecast to be 0.73 percent.