August 13, 2015
Opposition to Turakina School closure grows
A former student of Turakina Maori Girls College has slammed the way the likely closure of the Marton school has been handled.
Mere Takoko an old girl from the Alumni of Turakina class of 1994 says the announcement from Education Minister Hekia Parata seeking consultation on the school's future came as a bolt out of the blue and has completely shocked former pupils such as herself who have been up most of the night blogging to see if ways can be found to keep the 54 student school alive.
She says the Ministry gave the school's board only an hour and a half to inform whanau before issuing a press release on the likely closure.
Mere Takoko says its ironic that the Minister who is one of the the most prominent wahine Maori political leaders of this era, is about to fail in a really big way to realise the intrinsic value Turakina brings.
She says what's happening to Turakina is reflective of the second class status being afforded to Maori boarding schools when just $800,000 is needed to keep the school open which has been producing Maori leaders for 110 years.
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