October 17, 2013
Call for bomb under Kohanga bum
Labour's Maori affairs spokesperson is calling for major changes in kohanga reo.
Shane Jones says allegations of misuse of credit cards by the chief executive of Te Kohanga Reo National Trust's commercial arm Te Pataka Ohanga is a symptom of wider problems.
He says the organisation has become heirarchical and secretive, and whanau have been expressing their concern by sending their tamariki elsewhere.
"We need to increase the number of kohanga. We need to substantially grow the number of kids going through a kohanga experience and I think institutionally the place needs to be significantly evolved. Someone told be they are now leading a witch hunt trying to find the whistle blower. If there was ever a reason why the Kohanga needs a further bomb under its bum, that only lessens their credibility in my view," he says.
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