Henare Welcomes Extra Funding for South Auckland Schools

The Minister of Maori Affairs, the Hon Tau Henare, has welcomed the boost in Government funding to South Auckland schools.

It was announced yesterday the Government would spend up to $9 million over three years in five South Auckland schools to provide better education for the young people in the schools.

"It's no secret that being a 'homeboy' from South Auckland, and a former pupil of Hillary College, one of the schools to benefit from the funding boost, I've got a soft spot for new initiatives that address the disparity gaps in South Auckland.

"Although South Auckland is not a flash area and often held up as an example of the ghetto in New Zealand, it doesn't mean to say you turn your back on it and not do anything to address the needs of its community," said Mr Henare.

"I expect some real benefits to flow in terms of an improvement in education standards from this; the added flow ons are the general uplifiting of community spirit and self pride.

"It most probably doesn't come as any surprise either that most of the kids at these schools are Maori and Pacific Islanders. Groups, this Governement has said we've got to do something about and raise their educational and living standards so that at the least, they're on a level playing field with the rest."