April 28, 2021
Check box spir to te reo lessons
The head of the Principals’ Federations says the response to a Teaching Council checkbox on whether teachers are advancing their knowledge of te reo Māori is a positive sign.
Just 300 of the almost 30,000 applications by teachers to renew their annual practising certificate ticked no to whether they has continued to develop and practise te reo Māori me ōnā tikanga.
Reasons for non-compliance ranged from them having just returned from overseas to being fluent already.
Perry Rush says short of making te reo Māori a compulsory subject, the question is a good way to make teachers and principals aware every young person should be learning some Māori.
"We're clearly on a journey and there are schools that are doing this really well and other schools that are yet to get on the bus. I think this is a strong message – every teacher, every principal, every teaching professional needs to be engaged in learning the language and the culture. This is really important," he says.
Mr Rush says the challenge is ensuring there are enough teachers to teach the teachers – which highlights the need to have more Māori language speakers coming into the teaching workforce.
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