May 10, 2021
School anti-racism programme extended
A programme to address racism in schools will be extended into the top of the South Island this week.
Te Hurihanganui was launched in Porirua in November, and it is being gradually piloted around the country.
Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis says it’s built on an earlier programme looking at what was happening to tauira Māori in the classroom, Te Kotahitanga, which was scrapped by National.
It’s been expanded to involve the whole community in what is happening at schools.
"So make sure the practices within schools that teachers use, the unconscious bias as we call it, are addressed, that the curriculum meets the needs of our Māori students, that whānau are supported and they are able to have a say, but each community will really develop it to meet their own particular needs," Mr Davis says.
Te Hurihanganui aims to make people aware of how their teaching practice or the school rules and policies could be racist, and introduces strategies to help all learners.
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