New Māori Education Action Plan light on detail

NZEI Te Riu Roa says the newly released Māori Education Action Plan is light on detail and silent on any funding to support advancing achievement for Māori ākonga learning in English-medium settings.

Ripeka Lessels, the incoming Te Manukura | President of NZEI Te Riu Roa and a tumuaki based in Kawerau, says it's hard to see how this plan has been written specifically for Māori ākonga.

“The plan looks very much like a mirroring of the new English medium literacy and structured mathematics curricula. We cannot see a focus on pūtaiao science or Aoteraoa histories, both important subjects for Māori ākonga.”

"The action plan makes mention of strengthening connections with hapu and iwi, but is light on detail. What we’d like to see is a focus on Aotearoa histories, rather than the ‘rebalancing’ the Government has talked about, because that focus on localised histories is one way in which those ties are practically strengthened with mana whenua.”

“The action plan looks contradictory too because one hand it says it’s exploring options to increase availability of te reo education for teachers and on the hand Te Ahu o te Reo Māori funding has been cut. Te Ahu o te reo Māori was a proven way for Māori ākonga in English medium settings to access te reo.”

Mrs Lessels says that a change to learning support services is needed.

“The plan says that a Learning Support Action Plan is underway. What we want to know is that any plans that are underway for more effective learning support are written by Māori, for Māori, and that the Crown intends to fund and resource those plans so that tamariki Māori can succeed in their own learning."