Focus area 3: Strengthen rangatahi participation in leadership, education and employment outcomes

​Rangatahi have an important role in shaping Auckland's future.

Almost 50 per cent of Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau are aged under 25 years.

To enable their leadership, rangatahi must have opportunities to engage in civic and local decision-making. They will need access to relevant education and support to pursue meaningful careers that contribute positively to Auckland's economy.

A key focus is the creation of opportunities for rangatahi to participate as leaders in decisions that affect them. To enable their voices to be heard there needs to be further investment in 'for rangatahi by rangatahi' communication methods and platforms that resonate with them.

Education and training must develop to meet the learning needs and aspirations of rangatahi in an ever evolving education system and job market. Education and training models that enable new thinking and approaches to unlock rangatahi talent will be valuable.

Alongside this the current formal education system needs to:

• accelerate the success of rangatahi
• improve the culturally appropriate learning environment
• steadily reduce the over-representation of rangatahi among those achieving poor educational and employment outcomes.

Fostering Māori models of learning will provide opportunities to build rangatahi capability and to staircase them into career paths they value.

How this can be done

Efforts can focus on:

• valuing the importance of rangatahi and their skills, knowledge and world views as important to the health of the community
• investing in and valuing rangatahi-led approaches to support rangatahi needs and aspirations
• growing rangatahi participation in decisions of importance to them
• increasing rangatahi achievement in education, employment and training.