October 07, 2021
Māori vice-president for teachers’ union
The annual meeting of the secondary teachers union, PPTA Te Wehengarua, has voted to create a new role of Māori vice president.
Te Huarahi Māori Motuhake member Shona West, the principal of Hukarere Girls College, says the position will strengthen the union’s ability to engage with members and with the government.
She says it’s an exciting time for Māori in education.
“The fact there has been so many policy changes like Ka Hikitia, within the education fraternity. There’s been Tau Mai Te Reo, there’s been the authenticating of the social science curriculum to be a lot more favourable, all those phenomenal, beautiful changes, what we’re doing is complementing that within the organisation,” Ms West says.
Te Huarahi has taken a strategic approach to reform, including getting four Māori staff positions in head office and getting changes in the teachers’ collective agreement.