95bFM Low English literacy rates in Pasifika students a predictor of exclusion from school, study finds
9 August, 2022
By Joe Wickins
Stephen Agnew, a Senior Lecturer of Economics at the University of Canterbury, says that greater investment in ESOL education may improve outcomes for all non-native English speakers in Aotearoa. Photo: Unsplash.
An analysis of ten years of data has found that low English literacy rates in Pasifika students are a key predictor of exclusion from school
Exclusion includes a range of measures, such as suspension, used in New Zealand schools to deal with "challenging behaviour."
The study analysed a cohort of over 43,000 students from their first day of school in 2008 to the end of their compulsory schooling in 2018.
The study found that 9% of Pākehā were excluded at some point during their compulsory schooling compared with 21% of Pasifika students.
Pasifika students identified as having English literacy difficulties and who subsequently received English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) support were 35% more likely to be excluded than Pasifika students who weren't identified as having literacy issues.
Stephen Agnew, a Senior Lecturer of Economics at the University of Canterbury, told Joe Wickins on 95bFM's The Wire that greater investment in ESOL education may improve outcomes for all non-native English speakers in Aotearoa.
The current ESOL funding model allows for just $780 a year per primary and intermediate student and $1000 per year for high school students.
Agnew, said that a Senior Lecturer of Economics at the University of Canterbury, says that children from poorer households with less educated parents, a parent who has been charged with a criminal offence or has had contact with Oranga Tamariki, are likely to contain children that have been excluded.
"Increased ESOL funding for schools with Pasifika students could be a targeted way for the government to support students that our data shows are most at risk of being excluded from school," says Agnew.
Agnew suggested that this increased support could be in the form of more intensive English language support or additional pastoral care for Pasifika ESOL students.
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