<div dir="ltr"><h1> Pacific preschools 'set back 30 years' by tough English-language tests </h1> <div class="gmail-publish"> 15 Jan, 2018 11:10am <div class="gmail-read-time"> <span class="gmail-clock-pic gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-clock-icon-9e9f9f"></span> 4 minutes to read </div> </div> <div class="gmail-wrapper gmail-clearfix gmail-pb-feature gmail-pb-layout-item gmail-pb-f-video-video-player"> <div style="display:block;max-width:100%"> <div class="gmail-video-wrapper" style="padding-top:56.25%"> </div></div></div><div class="gmail-wrapper gmail-clearfix gmail-full gmail-pb-feature gmail-pb-layout-item gmail-pb-f-article-header" id="gmail-fmJuYa1941F6Eq"><header class="gmail-article-header gmail-hed-first gmail-video-lead"><figure><div class="gmail-wrapper gmail-clearfix gmail-pb-feature gmail-pb-layout-item gmail-pb-f-video-video-player"><div style="display:block;max-width:100%"><div class="gmail-video-wrapper" style="padding-top:56.25%"> </div> </div> <figcaption class="gmail-closed"> <span class="gmail-caption gmail-credit gmail-col-sm-12 gmail-under-image">Samoan
Language Nest Society President Dr Salā Fa’asaulala Tagoilelagi-Leota
discusses intake for courses. / Video by Greg Bowker</span> </figcaption> </div> </figure> </header> </div> <div class="gmail-wrapper gmail-clearfix gmail-full gmail-pb-feature gmail-pb-layout-item gmail-pb-f-article-slimline-byline" id="gmail-f0Paraf941F6Eq"> <div class="gmail-byline gmail-bio-with-share gmail-has-author"> <div class="gmail-author-name"> <span class="gmail-author gmail-author-space"> <div class="gmail-image-container"><img class="gmail-author-img" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/nzme/a84e232b-8934-4674-81f3-983f8b1e99d9.png" alt="Simon Collins"></div> <div class="gmail-bio-text"> <span class="gmail-author"> <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/author/simon-collins/"> By: <span class="gmail-section-national-color gmail-author-title">Simon Collins</span> </a> </span> <div class="gmail-author-bio">Education reporter, NZ Herald</div> <a class="gmail-author-attr" href="mailto:simon.collins@nzherald.co.nz">simon.collins@nzherald.co.nz</a> </div></span> </div> <div class="gmail-byline-shares-wrapper"> <div class="gmail-byline-shares"> <div class="gmail-utility-tools"> </div> <div class="gmail-social-tools"> <a class="email gmail-tool gmail-first gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-email-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><a class="gmail-facebook gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-facebook-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><a class="gmail-twitter gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-twitter-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><a class="gmail-share-container gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-share-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><a class="gmail-bookmark gmail-tool gmail-last gmail-not-alone gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-bookmark-icon gmail-section-national" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><div class="gmail-hidden-shares extra-shares"> <div class="extra-share-wrapper"> <div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-facebook gmail-tool gmail-first gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-facebook-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-twitter gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-twitter-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="email gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-email-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-linkedin gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-linkedin-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-google-plus gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-googleplus-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-whatsapp gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-whatsapp-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-pinterest gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-pinterest-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-reddit gmail-tool gmail-last gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-reddit-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div> </div> <span class="gmail-share-close gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-close-icon-white"></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gmail-wrapper gmail-clearfix gmail-col-lg-12 gmail-col-md-12 gmail-pb-feature gmail-pb-layout-item gmail-pb-f-article-body gmail-col-sm-12 gmail-col-xs-12" id="gmail-fVNc921941F6Eq"> <div id="gmail-article-body" class="gmail-article-body gmail-article-body-elements"> <div id="gmail-article-content"> <p class="element element-paragraph">
Pacific-language preschools say they have been set back 30 years by
tough new English language tests that have forced the closure of all
dedicated Pacific preschool teaching courses.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
The last students in AUT University's Bachelor of Education (Pasifika
Early Childhood Teaching) graduated last month, and entry to Auckland
University's Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Pasifika early childhood
pathway has been suspended this year.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
Other Pacific courses run by polytechnics, teachers' colleges and the
NZ Childcare Association, and a course for teachers in a'oga amata
(Samoan language nests) dating back to 1987, have all closed since the
entry requirement for all teacher training was <a href="https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Approval%2C%20Review%20and%20Monitoring%20Processes%20guidelines_1.pdf" target="_blank">raised to level 7</a> on the <a href="https://www.ielts.org/about-the-test/how-ielts-is-scored" target="_blank">International English Language Testing System</a> (IELTS) in 2011.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> For comparison, <a href="https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/study/international-students/entry-requirements-international-students.html" target="_blank">Auckland University</a> and <a href="https://www.aut.ac.nz/study-at-aut/apply-to-aut/before-you-apply-things-to-consider/ielts-grade-requirements-for-entry-into-aut" target="_blank">AUT</a> require IELTS levels of only 6 for other undergraduate courses and 6.5 for postgraduates including doctoral students.</p> <div class="gmail-ad-container gmail-has-text gmail-max-width-300" style="max-width:300px"> <div class="gmail-ad-text-before">Advertisement</div> <div id="gmail-ContentRect" class="gmail-pb-ad-container gmail-max-width-300 gmail-min-height-250"> </div> <div class="gmail-ad-contact-text"><a href="http://advertising.nzme.co.nz/">Advertise with NZME.</a></div> </div> <p class="element element-paragraph">
The head of AUT's education school, Lyn Lewis, said the level 7 hurdle
"has decimated the number of students who were eligible for teacher
education".</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> A'oga Amata national president Pafitimai Salā Dr Fa'asaulala Tagoilelagi-Leota said the course closures left her "gutted".</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> "We are back to square one when the training started in 1987," she said.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> Ironically, the Pacific courses have closed just as the <a href="http://www.labour.org.nz/pacific_island_affairs" target="_blank">new Labour Government has promised</a>
to declare Samoan, Tongan, Cook Island Māori, Niuean and Tokelauan as
"official community languages" and to "enhance" their use in the
education system.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> About a quarter of the 15,000 Pasifika children in NZ preschools <a href="https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/early-childhood-education/language-use-in-ece" target="_blank">learn in Pacific languages</a>
at least half the time in 106 childcare centres, including 61 in
Samoan, 31 in Tongan, seven in Cook Islands Māori, four in Niuean and
one each in Tokelauan, Fijian and Pukapukan.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
But the new English language requirement has blocked most mature
Pasifika people, who have the strongest Pasifika language skills and
cultural knowledge, from teaching preschoolers.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
Tagoilelagi-Leota, a former head of the Pasifika programme at AUT, said
she used to get more than 300 applicants a year, but the numbers being
admitted dropped to 20 to 25 a year after 2011.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
"We have lots of trained teachers from Samoa who came through the
Samoan [immigration] quota. They have high-quality Samoan, which is what
our Samoan early childhood centres want, but they have to sit the IELTS
even if they are qualified," she said.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
The Associate Dean Pasifika in Auckland University's education faculty,
Dr Rae Si'ilata, said her faculty turned away more than 30 applicants
for its Pasifika early childhood pathway in 2016 because they failed the
IELTS test.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> Professor Graeme Aitken, who was then dean of the faculty, <a href="http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/en/for/future-undergraduates/study-options/programmes-and-courses/betch-ece-pasifika-programme.html" target="_blank">announced the suspension</a> of the pathway last October because there were then only eight applicants for this year's course.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
But Si'ilata said she and other Pasifika staff would lobby to reinstate
the course next year, especially in view of Labour's changes.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
She said research showed that children who learned to speak, read and
write in their heritage languages as well as in English, did better
academically than those who learned only in a second language, and were
likely to have better life choices.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
Residents of the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau were also NZ citizens
and there were more than four times as many Cook Islanders, Niueans and
Tokelauans in New Zealand than on their home islands.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> "New Zealand has a constitutional responsibility to the users of those languages," Si'ilata said.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
However, Education Council deputy chief executive Lesley Hoskin said
all teachers had to have good English and/or Māori, New Zealand's
official languages, because teacher registration allowed them to teach
anywhere, not just in Pacific-language centres.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> She said the <a href="http://file:///C:/Users/simon.collins/Downloads/Guidelines%20-%20How%20to%20apply%20for%20registration%20as%20a%20nurse%20in%20Aotearoa%20New%20Zealand.pdf" target="_blank">Nursing Council</a> also required nurses to achieve level 7 on IELTS, and the <a href="https://www.mcnz.org.nz/get-registered/how-to-register/english-language-requirements/" target="_blank">Medical Council</a> required doctors to reach 7.5 in listening and speaking and level 7 in reading and writing.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> All <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/assessment-for-migration-forms/changes-to-english-language-criterion-for-all-school-teacher-occupations.pdf?sfvrsn=dd66ec3c_0" target="_blank">Australian states</a> require teachers to have level 8 in listening and speaking and level 7 in reading and writing.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
"It is possible that we could consider raising the attainment level in
the future, but we would not consider lowering it," Hoskin said.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
But she added: "If the status of the three official languages change,
then clearly the council would consider what changes to its requirements
would be needed."</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> National
education spokeswoman Nikki Kaye said her proposal for a national
languages policy would ensure long-term planning to recruit and train
language teachers.</p> </div> </div> </div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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