Community Liaison Trial

As part of the 2023 settlement of the secondary teachers’ collective agreement the Ministry of Education and PPTA committed to collaboratively undertaking a trial of community education roles.

The June 2025 interim evaluation of the trial was very positive about the roles and outcomes. 

The purpose of the community liaison role was to support the achievement, wellbeing and retention of Māori and Pacific students in secondary schools, by supporting community and family involvement and cultural engagement; provide opportunities for teachers to develop their cultural leadership skills within the wider school community.

The trial began on 28 January 2024 and the trial ends on 27 January 2026 with an interim report available to both parties by 30 May 2025 and a final evaluation report being made available by 31 July 2026. The reports will be added to this webpage when they are available.

The trial was subject to an evidence-based evaluation against measurable objectives. The collection of data for the trial began in term 1 2024.

Why the trial is important 

The essential work identified as part of the Community Liaison role is currently undertaken in all schools but is often unrecognized in terms of time and remuneration. This unaddressed workload contributes to difficulties in recruiting and retaining Kaiako Māori and Pacific Teachers.   

Based on the interim evaluation of the trial, we believe that final evaluation of the trial will demonstrate the value of recognizing this work and support the future expansion of the role across all schools which have PPTA members.