An independent taskforce report on kohanga reo has put the movement into crisis - and Aotea District manager Ruka Broughton says it's time to get proactive.
He was one of thousands who marched to the Wellington office of the Waitangi Tribunal on Monday to lodge a Treaty of Waitangi claim on the subject.
The taskforce's findings on kohanga reo have been described as scathing, and Mr Broughton said it recommended bringing the Maori language preschools under the umbrella of the Education Ministry.
The Government could begin implementing the recommendations as early as next year if National were re-elected.
The report was a wake-up call and action was needed. Mr Broughton planned to talk to MPs, the Ministry of Education and kohanga reo matriarch Dame Iritana Tawhiwhirangi.
Moving kohanga reo into the mainstream wasn't the answer, he said. If it was, there would not be 10,000 children whose families had chosen to send them to the Maori language preschools instead.
"The statistics show us that clearly, so we need to come up with a different approach."
The end of kohanga would endanger the survival of the Maori language and Maori development in general, he said. The kohanga reo movement was part of New Zealand society and wanted to move ahead and make a contribution.
The Early Childhood Education Taskforce may not have had correct information about the movement, he said - none of its members were from kohanga reo.
"In order to make comment about an entity, you would need to be fully informed - inside the operation as opposed to looking from outside."
Te Kohanga Reo National Trust was choosing to respond to the taskforce report by lodging a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal. Its case was being handled by prominent lawyer Mai Chen.
Mr Broughton was helping with the claim by collecting evidence.
But he wanted to be proactive as well.
"What we want is to have kohanga reo continue as the entity that it is. If there are areas that need to be addressed, let's do that. I would rather look at the positive, because I think that there is one."
Meanwhile, Education Minister Anne Tolley said there had been 1637 submissions on the report's recommendations so far. She was disappointed by "scaremongering" over Playcentre and kohanga reo.
"The Government supports diversity in this sector and we extended 20 Hours ECE to Playcentres and Kohanga Reo last year."
She said the taskforce was established to review the effectiveness of early childhood education spending and to make recommendations on proposed improvements, including changes to funding and policy.
Submissions close on August 8 and the report can be viewed at www.taskforce.ece.govt.nz
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