The head of a newly-approved charter school says their aim is to encourage change and get better results for Maori boys.

Two new charter schools have been approved to open in 2017, both Maori-focused and both located in the North Island, adding to the eight already operating.

Ronnie Rochel, the director of single-sex senior secondary school Te Aratika Academy - which will be based in Napier - said she's passionate about providing a platform for change and working with what she calls her 'atypical stars'.

She said they're young men who have corrected their ways with the help of mentoring.

Meanwhile, the backers of Te Kōpuku High, the second approved charter school in Hamilton, believe they can offer an opportunity to Maori students they can't get in the state system.

The Kia Ata Mai Educational Trust has been selected to provide the co-educational secondary school - it will follow an immersion kaupapa Maori approach.

Trust Chair Cath Rau said for the last 20 years they've specialised in supporting kohanga reo, kura, and wharekura, and they've seen the success students there have enjoyed.

She said they're mindful of the vast majority of Maori students in the state system who don't enjoy the same success.

"We saw an opportunity through the partnership school initiative to use the cumulative knowledge and experience that we've gained [to] provide an educational opportunity for Maori students in Hamilton."

ACT leader and education under-secretary David Seymour said the two schools will have a combined roll of 157, growing to a maximum 500 by 2021.

Charter schools, an ACT Party initiative, are controversial, because while they are state funded, they can be run by trusts operated by business groups, churches and local organisations.

Charter schools can set their own curriculum and term times, and don't have to employ registered teachers.

The rationale for them is that they can tailor their teaching to suit students who are performing poorly, or failing, in the state system.

However, charter schools are fiercely opposed by teacher unions and the Labour Party.

Additional reporting by NZ Newswire