Education = Commodity; makes it a level playing ground, tradable, no one has more access

Education = Public Good; benefit of the whole community, should be freely available.

2a : of, relating to, or affecting all the people or the whole area of a nation or state b : of or relating to a government c : of, relating to, or being in the service of the community or nation

3 a : of or relating to people in general

(http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary; Merriam–Webster online dictionary)

3 a : something that has economic utility or satisfies an economic want b plural : personal property having intrinsic value but usually excluding money, securities, and negotiable instruments c plural : CLOTH d plural : something manufactured or produced for sale : WARES, MERCHANDISE e plural, British : FREIGHT

(http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary; Merriam–Webster online dictionary)

John Dickie (2000) identified fundamental difficulties that students with Pacific nations backgrounds face in tertiary studies from a survey of from Wellington College of Education. These are: difficulty speaking out in class, difficulty approaching the lecturer and difficulty with English at a tertiary level. Dickie traces the sources of these difficulties to being linked with the differences between NZ European and Pacific Nations cultures.

Given this; what kinds of education would be provided? Time and time again it has been shown that Maori and Pacific Nations students generally do not prosper from a European educational system, so would alternatives be provided?

It would be difficult, taking all of Penetito’s assumptions into the playing ground, for any action by a New Zealand European to not be condemned as being ‘patronising’ or racist. Furthermore, with this mindset in play, it would also be difficult to reach any kind of middle ground where both Maori and Non-Maori can profit from living with the other. While government runs a school, all actions could be declared as token gestures with such a mindset.

The public school system does attempt to do this, but the need is there for more on-site consultation. There are currently scholarships available from the Ministry of Education for Maori who want to become teachers. There are also scholarships available to other ethnic groups who want to teach in Maori emersion schools, these are subject to a Maori language proficiency test. Both scholarships are for $10,000 (Ministry of Education).

Some topics in this essay:
Statistics NZ, Maori Non-Maori, Philosopher Kings, Online Dictionary, Pacific Nations, TV Education, South Island, , Zealand Europeans, Maori Pacific, pacific nations, nations students, pacific nations students, maori pacific nations, maori able, public schools, maori culture, utility satisfies, people nation, education system, utility satisfies economic, private schooling, economic utility satisfies, maori language, private schooling system,