d emancipation.
             Maori women's education takes an overwhelming role in development. It exerts a profound influence upon employment, social status, family structure and even education itself. Education of Maori women and that of non-Maori women vary greatly from several aspects though enough similarity remains for generalizations to be made. The diversity is due on the one hand to social factors such as individual desire, economic status and insufficiency of education system and on the other to the nature of the Maori culture.
             It is well-known that achievement and participation are linked, and the chances of improved life outcomes increase the longer someone stays at school. Maori girls are currently over-represented in non-participation in schooling compared to non-Maori girls. This is reflected in current data that shows Maori girls are more likely to leave school than non-Maori girls.
             Secondary school Maori and non-Maori girls staying on at school in 1988, 1996, 1998, 2000 to 2003
             Age 16 Age 17 Age 18 Age 16 Age 17 Age 18
             Source: Adopted from Annual report on Maori education 2002/2003, 2004. page 113
             We can see from the table above that in 2003 66.1 per cent of Maori girls aged 16 stayed at school, compared to 90.6 per cent of non-Maori girls. All the proportions of Maori girls' participation are lower than those of non-Maori girls'. And the gap between Maori girls and non-Maori girls widens increasingly. This may be due to the fact that huge population of Maoris live in rural areas and poor economic situation forces them to leave school earlier than non-Maori girls.
             The difference in education between Maori and non-Maori women is also reflected in the Maori language and bilingual education. While most Maori students remain within the mainstream education system, there is now a strong demand for Maori language education. It shows that more and more Maori regain their Maori cultural identity and ...