Education
A new Year 7-13 designated character wharekura will be built in Ppmoa, Associate Minister of Education Kelvin Davis has announced.
The wharekura will focus on science, mathematics and creative technologies while connecting konga to the whakapapa of the area. The decision follows an application by the Ng Ptiki Tamapahore Trust and a consultation process.
The wharekura will initially have a maximum roll of 72 konga. Its establishment recognises the importance of Wairuatanga that is deeply embedded within the marae communities of the Bay of Plenty Waiariki District, Kelvin Davis said.
Teaching at the wharekura will be conducted in te reo Mori and will deliver a science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) programme supported by mtauranga Mori. This reflects Ng Ptiki ki Uta Ng Ptiki ki Tai mai ng khui maunga ki te moana: Tauranga Moana, Tauranga tangata: Te Arawa waka Te Arawa tangata: Mai ng pae maunga ki te moana.
WHAT?
Boosting Mori education is a focus for the Chris Hipkins Government, as shown in the recent Budget where $225 million went into areas including more classrooms and learning support, Kelvin Davis said.
Our goal is to grow the number of Mori learners in Mori Medium and Kaupapa Mori Education to 30% by 2040, and new wharekura like this will help us achieve this.
We are pleased to make this announcement in partnership with Ng Ptiki Tamapahore Trust as we continue to work collaboratively to foster increased participation, engagement and success for Mori through Mori immersion education, Kelvin Davis said.
The next step is the appointment of an Establishment Board who will be tasked with developing the vision and direction of the wharekura and appointing staff.
A new Year 7-13 designated character wharekura will be built in Ppmoa, Associate Minister of Education Kelvin Davis has announced.
The wharekura will focus on science, mathematics and creative technologies while connecting konga to the whakapapa of the area. The decision follows an application by the Ng Ptiki Tamapahore Trust and a consultation process.
The wharekura will initially have a maximum roll of 72 konga. Its establishment recognises the importance of Wairuatanga that is deeply embedded within the marae communities of the Bay of Plenty Waiariki District, Kelvin Davis said.
Teaching at the wharekura will be conducted in te reo Mori and will deliver a science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) programme supported by mtauranga Mori. This reflects Ng Ptiki ki Uta Ng Ptiki ki Tai mai ng khui maunga ki te moana: Tauranga Moana, Tauranga tangata: Te Arawa waka Te Arawa tangata: Mai ng pae maunga ki te moana.
Boosting Mori education is a focus for the Chris Hipkins Government, as shown in the recent Budget where $225 million went into areas including more classrooms and learning support, Kelvin Davis said.
Our goal is to grow the number of Mori learners in Mori Medium and Kaupapa Mori Education to 30% by 2040, and new wharekura like this will help us achieve this.
We are pleased to make this announcement in partnership with Ng Ptiki Tamapahore Trust as we continue to work collaboratively to foster increased participation, engagement and success for Mori through Mori immersion education, Kelvin Davis said.
The next step is the appointment of an Establishment Board who will be tasked with developing the vision and direction of the wharekura and appointing staff.
Can you understand that? Even if youre a Kiwi you probably cant because, according to N.Z.s Newshub, only a very tiny fraction of the countrys population speak Mori:
Te reo Mori [the Mori language], listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as vulnerable, is only proficiently spoken by around one in 100 New Zealanders. Another 2.7 percent are able to hold a basic conversation, according to census figures all up
thats around 185,000 people.
Since only about 16.5% of New Zealanders identify as Mori, that means that about 80% of the indigenous people dont even speak this language, even in the ability to hold a basic conversation.
Are Mori-laden statements like this, then, a big attempt a virtue signaling, or does the government hope that by issuing them it will drive the whole country to learn the indigenous language? I doubt it, because a paper from the Royal Society suggests that, without intensive intervention, the demographics of the country will doom Mori as a language.
But more important, what is being proposed, once you translate the announcement into English, is a school that will teach science only in Mori, will use the principles of matauranga Mori, including the whakapapa of the area (
whakapapa
is a Mori-specific term reflecting the privileges and duties of your tribal ancestry), and will involve a lot of money. I may be wrong, but given the paucity of Mori-speakers, and the prevalence of scientific literature and texts in English, not to mention the issue of matauranga Mori not being science but including some practical knowledgegiven all this, shouldnt they just educate the children in English, and reduce the influence of a largely superstition-and-tradition-based knowledge system on a science curriculum?
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