Rapid growth in numbers joining Communities of Learning

The number of Communities of Learning│Kāhui Ako is growing rapidly, with a recent upsurge in the numbers of early learning services joining.

Education minister Hekia Parata has just approved 17 new Communities of Learning, involving another 50,000 children and young people, 119 schools and 11 early learning services.

These new communities are in Tai Tokerau, Auckland, Waikato, Wellington and Canterbury. Many of these Communities have high numbers of Māori and Pasifika children and young people. These are two groups in our education system at greatest risk of underachievement. 

The number of early learning services joining Kāhui Ako has almost doubled to 184 in just four months with 11 joining these new Communities of Learning and an additional 78 joining existing Communities of Learning; 1,630 schools are now in Communities, alongside four tertiary providers. 

Twenty percent of Kāhui Ako now have early learning representation indicating growing recognition of how quality early learning contributes to achievement challenges, by laying foundations for lifelong learning and enabling a smoother transition to school.  

New figures also show that 1,100 teachers and principals have been appointed to new positions in Communities of Learning│Kāhui Ako across the country. 

Communities of Learning – the numbers as at April 2017:

• 197 Communities of Learning
• 543,000 children and young people
• 1,630 schools
• 184 early learning services
• 4 tertiary providers
• 61 Kāhui Ako have set their achievement challenges
• more than 1,100 new leadership and teaching positions are now in place