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The Kohanga Reo National Trust intends to brief kohanga reo around the country over the next few weeks about where they should be headed after a favourable Waitangi Tribunal report.
Deputy chair Tony Waho is welcoming the recommendation that an independent advisor working to the prime minister’s department oversee the tripartite relationship between the trust, the Ministry of Education and Te Puni Kokiri.
Mr Waho says high level support and commitment is needed to correct some structural injustices that developed over the past decade as the early childhood sector was overhauled.
"The result was that kohanga were put at the lowest level of funding and the qualification framework we developed, which has been given recognition by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Tertiary Education Commission has not been deemed appropriate and yet we’ve developed it as being appropriate for us so we are looking forward to having that corrected and seeing the funding levels of kohanga increased," he says.
Mr Waho says there also needs to be money put in to upgrading sub-standard facilities used by a third of kohanga’s 9000 children.
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