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Study shows change is needed to help Pacific children succeed

New Zealand schools can do more to bridge cultural and language barriers and improve academic outcomes for Pacific children, a University of Canterbury (UC) researcher says.

UC Child Well-being Research Institute and School of Health Sciences Post Doctoral Fellow Alice Hyun Min Kim.

She and collaborators from UC and Auckland University of Technology (AUT) have used data from the Pacific Islands Families (PIF) study, which collects ongoing information from 1400 Pacific children born in Auckland in the year 2000, to investigate this inequity.

Dr Hyun Min Kim says as an immigrant herself (from South Korea at age 13) she knows how difficult it can be for children to navigate the mainstream school environment.

“New Zealand’s record on educational equity is quite poor compared to other countries and it hasn’t improved over the past few years.

“I feel motivated to change this because there are some really strong Pacific students who don’t continue with their studies or they get lost in the system and don’t reach their full potential.

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