Pacific Language in Schooling

This report provides a snapshot of Pacific language in education in New Zealand Schools as at 1 July. It describes two levels of Pacific language learning: Pacific medium education and Pacific Language as a separate subject.

Summary

Pacific medium education is where a Pacific language is the medium of instruction for more than 3 hours a week (12% of typical classroom time). Pacific medium education is measured at four levels: Level 1: 81-100% of the time, Level 2: 51-80% of the time, Level 3: 31-50% of the time, and Level 4: 12-30% of the time.

Pacific language as a separate subject is where students are learning a Pacific language as a separate subject at the Primary level (Years 1-8) for a minimum of 15 hours a year or at secondary level (Years 9-15) for a minimum of 20 hours a year.

Number of Schools offering Pacific Language in Education

A total of 40 schools offered Pacific medium education in 2019: 29 primary schools, 8 secondary schools and 2 composite schools. Twenty-eight out of the 40 schools offering Pacific medium education (70 percent) were located in the Auckland region. Samoan was the most common Pacific language for instruction with 36 out of the 40 schools delivering curriculum in Samoan. Six schools offered the curriculum in two or more Pacific languages.

In 2019 a further 48 schools had students enrolled in a Pacific language as a separate subject; 10 primary schools, 37 secondary schools, and 1 composite school. Twenty-four out of the 48 schools (50%) were located in the Auckland region, and 12 schools (25%) were in the Wellington region. Samoan was the most common Pacific language offered as a separate subject with 41 out of the 48 schools teaching Samoan as a separate subject. Seventeen out of the 48 schools offered two or more different Pacific Languages.

Table 1: Number of Schools offering a Pacific Language by Immersion Level and Language as at 1 July 2019
Notes:
  1. Where a school offers multiple levels in a particular Pacific language, it is only counted at its highest level.
  2. Where a school offers more than one language it has been counted once in each language but only once in total.
  3. Level 5: As a separate subject' for Years 1-8 is for a minimum of 15 hours a year, and Years 9 and above for a minimum of 20 hours a year.
Highest Level of Learning1SamoanTonganCook Island
Māori		 NiueanTokelauanOtherTotal2
Level 1: 81-100% 14 2 0 0 1 0 16
Level 2: 51-80% 7 3 0 0 0 0 7
Level 3: 31-50% 6 0 0 0 0 0 6
Level 4: 12-30% 9 3 2 0 0 0 11
Level 5: As a separate subject3 41 11 3 2 1 6 48
Pacific Language in Education7719522688

Number of Students

There were 2,761 students enrolled in Pacific medium education in 2019 and a further 5,311 students studied a Pacific language as a separate subject. This is a increase of 46 students (1.7%) in Pacific medium education, and a decrease of 10 students (-0.2%) in Pacific language as a separate subject since July 2018.

Table 2: Number of students involved in Pacific language in education by immersion level (2015-2019)
Notes:
  1. Where a school offers multiple levels in a particular Pacific language, it is only counted at its highest level.
  2. Where a school offers more than one language it has been counted once in each language but only once in total.
  3. Level 5: As a separate subject' for Years 1-8 is for a minimum of 15 hours a year, and Years 9 and above for a minimum of 20 hours a year.
Immersion Level 20152016201720182019Change 2018-19
NumberPercentage
Level 1: 81-100% 732 513 546 587 559 -28 -4.8
Level 2: 51-80% 866 896 1,048 993 985 -8 -0.8
Level 3: 31-50% 503 501 400 331 406 75 22.7
Level 4: 12-30% 1,177 1,179 1,283 804 811 7 0.9
Level 5: As a separate subject 5,032 6,127 6,441 5,321 5,311 -10 -0.2
Pacific Language in Education8,3109,2169,7188,0368,072 360.4

Pivot Tables

These spreadsheets allow you to create your tables by any combination of variables.  Both spreadsheets have the option of displaying variables by school type variables (such as decile or affiliation), and regional type variables.

Please note: use of these spreadsheets require MS Excel version 2007 or later.

Time Series Data

These spreadsheets allow you to create your tables by any combination of variables.  Both spreadsheets have the option of displaying variables by school type variables (such as decile or affiliation), and regional type variables.

Please note: use of these spreadsheets require MS Excel version 2007 or later.

School Data Dimension Notes

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Year
Data is presented as at 1 July of each year 2000 through to 2019.

Language:
Language: Pacific language available - Students who take multiple languages are counted in each language group. "Other Pacific" includes Fijian, Other Pacific languages not mentioned, and Pacific Language Studies.

Level of Learning:
Level of Learning describes students being taught at different levels of Pacific instruction. Each level is defined by the proportion of time the student is taught using a Pacific Language.

  • Level 1: 81-100%: Pacific language is the medium of instruction for 81-100% of the time (20+ hours per week)
  • Level 2: 51-80%: Pacific language is the medium of instruction for 81-100% of the time (12.5 - 20 hours per week)
  • Level 3: 31-50%: Pacific language is the medium of instruction for 81-100% of the time (7.5 - 12.5 hours per week)
  • Level 4: 12-30%: Pacific language is the medium of instruction for 81-100% of the time (3-7.5 hours per week)
  • Level 5 As a separate subject: I s where students are learning a Pacific language as a separate subject, at the Primary level (Years 1-8) for a minimum of 15 hours a year or at secondary level (Years 9-15) for a minimum of 20 hours a year.
  • Level 6 Taha Māori: Students learn Māori songs, greetings, and simple words.
  • No Māori Language Education: Students in school roll not recorded at any level of Māori language learning.
  • Not Applicable: Māori language in Education information is not collected for these students.

Year Level
The number of years of schooling a student has received, also known as funding year level. The funding year level for most students is based on the date they first started school. It is independent of the way schools are organised and independent of the particular programme of study that a student may undertake.

School ID
The individual Identification code a school is given by the Ministry of Education.

School Name:
The name of the school as at 1 July 2019.

School Type:
The type of the school, for example Full Primary (Year 1-8), as at 1 July of that year. Typically based on what year levels the school offers, but also includes further information e.g. Correspondence school, Special school, Teen Parent Unit etc. See "School: Sector" for a broader grouping, and "Student: Year level group" for a student based sector grouping.

School Sector:
Schools are grouped (by school type) into four sectors of schooling education, Primary, Secondary, Composite and Special. See "School: Type" for a more detailed grouping, and "Student: Year level group" for a student based sector grouping.

School Authority:
The ownership of the school for example State, State-Integrated and Private as at 1 July of that year.

School Decile:
The decile assigned to the school as at 1 July of that year. Schools are assigned a socio-economic score based on five census derived socio-economic factors. The 10 percent of schools with the lowest scores are considered decile 1 schools; the next 10 percent of schools are considered decile 2 schools, etc. Decile 1 schools draw the greatest proportion of their students from low socioeconomic areas.

School Gender:
The gender of the students that a school caters for, for example, co-educational, boys school. A small number of single sex schools can have some students of the opposite sex on their roll. These students can only access the education they need at these 'opposite sex' schools i.e. adults or special needs students.

Affiliation Type:
Whether a school has a religious or organisational affiliation, as at 1 July of that year. Only schools that requested an affiliation are included in that affiliation group, this dimension is most commonly represented for state integrated schools. See "School: Affiliation" for a more detailed grouping.

School Affiliation:
The religious or organisational affiliation of schools, for example, Roman Catholic, Montessori, as at 1 July of that year. Only schools that requested an affiliation are included in that affiliation group, this dimension is most commonly represented for state integrated schools. See "School: Affiliation Type" for a broader grouping.

School Definition:
Additional descriptive information about the school. For example, Kura Kaupapa Māori, school for pupils with physical disabilities, etc. as at 1 July of that year.

Kura Type:
Māori immersion schools can be set up either through Section 155 (s155) or Section 156 (s156) of the Education Act 1990.

Education Region:
The education region where the school is located. These ten administrative regions are created by the Ministry of Education and are aligned with the Ministry's ten local offices.

Regional Council:
The Regional Council area where the school is located. Regional council boundaries are defined by Statistics New Zealand.

Territorial Authority:
The Territorial Authority area where the school is located. Territorial authority boundaries are defined by Statistics New Zealand. Auckland super city has been subdivided into local board. For more information about Auckland city local boards see: Auckland Council website.

Ministry of Education Local Office:
The Ministry of Education local office district where the school is located.