November 13, 2020
Compulsory reo needed in teacher training
The New Zealand Māori Council says the Government needs to go much further to embed te reo Māori in the education system.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today released a new statement of National Education Learning Priorities, which is a legal framework for early learning services, schools and kura, and a new Tertiary Education Strategy.
Those priorities include reducing barriers to education for all learners; and ensuring places of learning are safe, inclusive and free from racism, discrimination and bullying.
In the section on teaching and leadership, it calls for schools to incorporate te reo Māori and tikanga Māori into their everyday life.
Māori Council education taskforce chair Raewyn Harrison says the council has been arguing since 1964 for te reo Māori to be a compulsory subject in teacher training colleges, so when teachers stand in front of tamariki Māori they have a language and cultural connection with them.
She says the recommendations on including Māori language and tikanga are not binding, so they are unlikely to be resourced or enforced.
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