February 27, 2024
Kura Māori at risk of losing spot on building list
Former education minister Jan Tinnetti says kura Māori will be sent to the back of the class through the Government’s ministerial inquiry the into school building process.
Hundreds of projects are now in limbo because of what the current minister Erica Stanford says was a lack of committed finance and expectations far exceeding what could be delivered.
She pointed to bespoke one-off designs contributing to cost blow outs.
Ms Tinetti says kura Māori could drop in priority because their architecture tried to incorporate tikanga concepts.
“There are reference designs for Maori medium education as well, taking in the tikanga. I’m very disappointed, hearing from a number of kura, that they feel they’ve been put to the bottom of the list again. It’s not OK,” she says.
Jan Tinetti says some kura have found ways to tweak modular classroom designs so they fit with tikanga.