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.

Last Updated: October 2023

Summary

Pacific language learning is offered at five levels:

  • Level 1: 81-100%: Curriculum is taught in a Pacific language for more than 20 and up to 25 hours per week
  • Level 2: 51-80%: Curriculum is taught in a Pacific language for more than 12.5 and up to 20 hours per week
  • Level 3: 31-50%: Curriculum is taught in a Pacific language for more than 7.5 and up to 12.5 hours per week
  • Level 4: 12-30%: Curriculum is taught in a Pacific language for more than 3 and up to 7.5 hours per week
  • Level 5: 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

As at 1 July 2023, a total of 39 schools offered Pacific language education at Levels 1-2, comprising 36 Primary schools, 1 Secondary school, 1 Composite school, and 1 Specialist school. Thirty-four out of those 39 schools (87.2%) were located in the Auckland region. Gagana Sāmoa was the most common Pacific language for instruction with 35 out of the 39 schools delivering the curriculum in gagana Sāmoa. Ten schools offered Level 1 and/or Level 2 programmes in two or more Pacific languages.

A total of 21 schools offered Pacific language education at Levels 3-4: 8 Primary schools, 11 Secondary schools, 1 Correspondence school, and 1 Specialist school. Eleven out of those 21 schools (50%) were located in the Auckland region. Gagana Sāmoa was the most common Pacific language for instruction with 15 out of the 21 schools delivering the curriculum in gagana Sāmoa. Seven schools offered Level 3 and/or Level 4 programmes in two or more Pacific languages.

As at 1 July 2023 a further 68 schools had students enrolled in Pacific language as a separate subject: 7 Primary schools, 55 Secondary schools, and 6 Composite schools. Twenty-two out of those 68 schools (32.4%) were located in the Auckland region, and 17 schools (25%) were in the Wellington region. Gagana Sāmoa was the most common Pacific language offered as a separate subject with 52 out of the 68 schools teaching gagana Sāmoa as a separate subject. Eighteen out of the 68 schools offered two or more Pacific languages.

Table 1: Number of Schools offering a Pacific Language by Immersion Level and Language as at 1 July 2023
Highest Level of Learning 1,220192020202120222023 Change
2022-23
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.
  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.
Level 1: 81-100% 16 16 15 16 16 0
Level 2: 51-80% 7 7 15 17 23 6
Level 3: 31-50% 6 6 3 3 6 3
Level 4: 12-30% 11 13 13 13 15 2
Level 5: As a separate subject3 48 78 77 71 68 -3
Total 88 120 123 120 128 8

Number of Students

As at 1 July 2023, there were 3,099 students enrolled in Level 1-2 programmes, 1,314 students in Levels 3-4 programmes and a further 6,920 students studied a Pacific language as a separate subject.

Table 2: Number of students involved in Pacific language in education by immersion level (2019-2023)
Notes:
  1. 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.
  2. Primary school data for Pacific Language Level 5: As a separate subject is populated through a supplementary survey
  3. In 2020 there was an increased response rate of the supplementary survey which has resulted in an increased number of students at this level. In 2019, 59% of Primary schools completed the survey. In 2020 93% of Primary schools completed the survey.

Immersion Level
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023		 Change 2022-23
Number %
Level 1: 81-100% 559 636 574 665 777 112 16.8%
Level 2: 51-80% 985 820 1,605 1,941 2,322 381 19.6%
Level 3: 31-50% 406 540 270 262 280 17 6.5%
Level 4: 12-30% 8111,494 634 1,000 1,03434 3.4%
Level 5: As a separate subject1,2 5,322 8,7543 7,482 5,655 6,920 1,26522.4%
Pacific Language in Education 8,083 12,24410,565 9,524 11,333 1,809 19.0%

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 affiliation), and regional type variables.

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

Time Series Data

This spreadsheet provides time series data in a single table for each of the dimensions shown in the chart below. Each table focuses on a single dimension and covers 2000-2023.

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

Note: Primary school data for ‘Pacific Language Level 5: As a separate subject’ is populated through a supplementary survey.

Note: In 2020 there was an increased response rate of the supplementary survey which has resulted in an increased number of students at this level. In 2019, 59% of Primary schools completed the survey. In 2020 93% of Primary schools completed the survey.

School Data Dimension Notes

.

Year
Data is presented as at 1 July of each year 2000 through to 2023.

Language:
Language: Pacific language available – Students who take multiple languages are counted in each language group. "Other Pacific" includes 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%: A Pacific language is the medium of instruction for 81-100% of the time (more than 20 and up to 25 hours per week)
  • Level 2: 51-80%:  A Pacific language is the medium of instruction for 51-80% of the time (more than 12.5 and up to 20 hours per week)
  • Level 3: 31-50%: A Pacific language is the medium of instruction for 31-50% of the time (more than 7.5 and up to 12.5 hours per week)
  • Level 4: 12-30%: A Pacific language is the medium of instruction for 12-30% of the time (more than 3 and up to 7.5 hours per week)
  • Level 5: 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.

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 2023.

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, Specialist school, Teen Parent Unit etc. See "School: Sector" for a broader grouping, and "Student: Year level (Grouped)" for a student-based sector grouping.

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

Māori Medium Peak Body Affiliation:
Identifies whether a school or kura is affiliated with one of the Māori medium education peak bodies. For schooling the two peak bodies are:

  • Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa (TRN)
  • Ngā Kura ā Iwi o Aotearoa (NKAI)

Education Region:
The education region where the school is located. These twelve 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.