AI, alofa drive Pacific charter school proposal

An education model proposal for Pasifika girls in Auckland aims to fuse cultural identity with future-ready, artificial intelligence (AI) learning.

Sisters United NZ (SUNZ) has submitted a first-of-its-kind charter school designed for Pasifika girls to thrive. If approved by the Charter School Agency, the Sisters United Academy will launch in 2026 with 120 students. The school is planned to be a free, all-girls secondary school offering small class sizes of one teacher to 20 students, with a strong backbone in cultural identity.

Speaking with Pacific Mornings host William Terite, Kendal Collins, the director of SUNZ, explains that the proposed academy is designed for Pasifika girls to thrive in an educational system that “does not fit everybody”.

Having worked in high schools for 18 years with students at risk of disengagement, Collins believes there is a lack of the “right foundation” support for students who struggle to find motivation in school.

She says many students quietly face challenges and go unnoticed, falling between those recognised as at-risk children and those who receive necessary support.

“Our current school system, everybody knows that it does not fit everybody. So this opportunity for charter schools is, for me, a dream. A dream opportunity to create something that fits our Pasifika children.

“We're talking about tests and exams, but our kids, some of them aren't great at writing. So why can't we talanoa [speak] the answers? Why can't we provide this atmosphere or school culture where they feel seen, valued, and like they belong?”

An important aspect of the proposed academy is personalised learning. Although public schools strive for this, Collins notes that the increasing student-to-teacher ratio makes it nearly “impossible to meet them where they’re at”.

“Schools try to be innovative but don't have the flexibility. And that's the beauty of charter schools, that you can start fresh, do things a different way, help our kids learn.”

Watch Kendal Collins' full interview below.

Collins says the school's daily structure will start with a “motivation morning,” where students will spend the first 20 minutes preparing for the day. This will be followed by academic sessions improved by adaptive AI applications developed in collaboration with educators and tech specialists.

“For example, if a girl is great at English, she can move faster.” The afternoon is where students will engage in entrepreneurship, leadership, and group work, pursuing their passions through project-based learning,” Collins says.

“What we've found in our work is that our girls are leaving high school with no real-world skills at all. The way that the world is going is that AI is going to be taking a lot of our jobs.

“So the school is about preparing them for whatever the future looks like, which won't be the same today. So being prepared for whatever the new jobs will be like in the future, they'll be ready.”

Collins says at SUNZ, cultural identity will remain central to everything taught at the academy, with language and heritage classes integrated into daily learning.

“We concentrate on academics because we have to, but if a kid does not know who they are, if they're not confident in themselves, have low self-worth, don't believe that they can dream big, don't believe they can achieve anything they see out on the media then what else can we do?

“I'm a big believer in the power of digital tech and AI that's really coming forward. So even though we're calling this a Pasifika charter school, AI-powered learning is also our special character and the superpower that's going to set us apart.

“I truly believe that this is going to be the blueprint of education, the future education of New Zealand. I've done my research the last couple of years and it's working overseas, so why can't we use that to help our Pasifika youth bridge that gap for their learning and for their success?”