Kapa Haka more than just a performance

Students at New Zealand 's largest kapa haka festival, Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival, were encouraged to use their skills to earn credits towards national qualifications.

NZQA had a stall at the festival to showcase national Maori qualifications, and Maori Qualifications Services team leader, Keri-Anne Stephens, said there were a range of new opportunities available.

"Students should know that there are credits available in kapa haka, as well as other formal qualifications and these credits can contribute towards their NCEA or tertiary qualifications," she says.

Held this year on the 19-22 February in Tauranga, the biennial event is considered one of the biggest gatherings in Maoridom, attracting more than 30,000 people. It brings together the best of the best kapa haka performers. It also represents months of gruelling training to perfect performances.

National Maori qualifications (field Maori) include Maori performing arts, along with other areas of study including whakairo (carving) and raranga (weaving).

"There is a huge gap between the number of students that perform kapa haka and those gaining credits towards their NCEA," Keri-Anne says. She would like to see this change. "We've heard tutors say that kapa haka can be used as a hook to help students stay longer in education and we hope promoting it at such an event will have a flow-on effect."

Five newly developed promotional banners were used at the NZQA stall to illustrate areas of study to a younger audience. The banners each represent a different part of field Maori, these are: Te reo Maori, Whakairo, Nga Mahi a Te Whare Pora (Maori arts and crafts), Maori Performing arts, generic field Maori (which houses all national Maori qualifications) and a banner focusing on rangatahi, or younger learners.

Keri-Anne explains the rationale of Maori Qualification Services: "We aim to promote awareness of field Maori and the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), and hopefully see this translate into higher usage of our unit standards. We want providers to make use of these standards by making them available to students to use these credits to contribute towards qualifications. We want to see people achieving qualifications at a higher level, and to provide information about how they can cross-credit and use what they have to create pathways into other qualifications. We want to build an awareness of how Maori students can use their skills and knowledge to go further in education."

The festival also offered an opportunity to network with different groups from around the country and achieve NZQA's own goal, Te Rautaki Maori Key Action 7, to promote greater understanding of the NQF among Maori communities.

Nga Taiatea Wharekura whakawatea senior kapa haka group. Kapa haka can be used as a hook to help students stay longer in education and gain more qualifications.