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The main measure of access to education currently available is participation. This is an indirect measure, that does not take account of the range of reasons for higher or lower participation. However, it can be assumed that access, or lack of it, is a significant factor driving participation.

Access to higher level qualifications is a key issue for Māori

Māori participation in tertiary education increased between 1999 and 2002, with the Māori participation rate in 2002 (14.5 percent) exceeding non-Māori (10.0 percent). This has in part been due to the growth of the wānanga. However in 2002, participation rates of Māori in tertiary providers other than the wānanga, exceeded those of non-Māori.

Much of the growth in participation has been in low level qualifications. The key access issue for Māori is ensuring progression from entry level qualifications to higher level qualifications.

Support for completion of qualifications is a key issue for Pasifika students

In 2002, Pasifika peoples continued to have lower participation rates (7.5 percent) than other ethnic groups. Their participation rate has been increasing at a rate similar to that of Pākehā and other ethnic groups, but much less than the increase in the Māori participation rate.

Pasifika peoples were under-represented at degree level and above, although there has been moderate growth in enrolments at this level. A key issue for Pasifika students at higher levels is to ensure that they have sufficient support to continue in their studies and complete their qualifications.

Figure 37: Distribution of each ethnic group by qualification level, July 2002

Access for students with disabilities is improving

Reported participation by students with disabilities has grown since 1999. In 1999, just over three percent of all students reported having a disability. This increased to nearly five percent in 2001. Overall reported numbers have more than doubled in this period. Reporting of disability status is a fairly new requirement. So the increase is likely to be a combination of increased actual participation by people with disabilities and increased reporting of disabilities by students at time of enrolment.

Figure 38: Students with a disability as a percentage of all students enrolled in formal tertiary education, July 1999–2002

However, participation of students with disabilities compared with the total population of people with disabilities appears to be quite low in comparison with those without disabilities. Participation rate estimates based on the 2001 Disability Survey show a participation rate in 2001 of around two percent for people with disabilities, compared with nearly 17 percent for those without.

Students with disabilities are relatively under-represented in universities and colleges of education, while wānanga have proven very successful in attracting students with disabilities. This has resulted in a high proportion of students with disabilities being Māori.

Less than one percent of Asian students reported a disability and around four percent of Pasifika students. This indicates that barriers to participation by students with disabilities in these groups may be higher than for other ethnic groups. It may also reflect differing cultural attitudes to disabilities, which could have an impact on self-reporting.

Students with disabilities were more likely to be studying for qualifications below degree level and in programmes that have an emphasis on foundation, employment and life skills.

Attainment of school qualifications is a key issue for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds

There is very limited information on the socio-economic backgrounds of tertiary students. The best available information is the decile level of the school that they last attended. This information is most meaningful for students who access tertiary education shortly after leaving school¹.

Students from low decile schools were significantly under-represented in degree courses in 2002. This reflects the lower levels of student achievement, on average, of students from low decile secondary schools. However, a student from a low decile school who achieves an A or B Bursary was as likely as a student from a higher decile school to go on to study towards a degree.

Students from high decile schools were more likely to proceed directly to tertiary education and enrol in a degree-level course.²

This data suggests that a major access barrier for students from lower socio-economic communities is the completion of a school or equivalent level qualification, in order to be able to participate in higher levels of tertiary education.

¹ It is also limited by the fact that school deciles are a measure of the levels of deprivation within the community served by the school, and not a measure of individual student socio-economic status. (↑)

² Ministry of Education, New Zealand Schools: Ngā Kura o Aotearoa 2002. (↑)

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• Table of Contents

• The Baseline Picture

• Cross Strategy Indicators

• Raise foundation skills

• Skills for our knowledge society

• Strengthen research and knowledge creation

• Te rautaki mātauranga Māori

• Pacific people’s development and success

• Capability and quality

• Technical and Data Definitions