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Download AudioA wananga leader says the passing of a bill covering Māori tertiary institutions is welcome recognition of the value they have brought to education in Aotearoa.
The Education and Training Amendment Act (No. 3) establishes a new governance framework for wānanga, allowing them to choose between being accountable to the crow or to their founding iwi or Maori organisation.
Wiremu Doherty from Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi says it’s a testament to the way ministers Kelvin Davis and Chris Hipkins were willing to recognise the mana and rangatiratanga of institutions set up by and for Maori.
“Minister Davis and the Prime Minister when he was the minister, we would not have got where we got to yesterday if it weren’t for their support, their tenacity, their trust. they have shepherded this through against an environment that has not been 100 percent supportive of what they’ve done,” he says.
Professor Doherty says Awanuiārangi. Te Wananga o Aotearoa and Te Wananga o Raukawa expect the assistance they get from government will now better suit their individual aspirations.
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