KEY POINTS:
Every morning TV3 reporter Mihingarangi Forbes drops off her two young daughters at a small Maori immersion school in the exclusive suburb of Seatoun.
Giving Peti-Paerau, 7, and Te Ahipourewa, 5, a chance to learn te reo from an early age is an opportunity Forbes never had.
While she is a tireless supporter of the kura kaupapa Maori system she knows it is an uphill battle. There are problems getting good teachers, enough resources and suitable sites.
And then there is the reception from locals. Forbes, 35, remembers the reaction when her daughters' school, Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Nga Mokopuna, moved from Newtown to its affluent seaside haven.
"They [locals] thought we were going to bring gangs and stuff. And we have to deal with that on top of just educating our kids."
In a suburb with only 5 per cent Maori, the only Maori immersion school in Wellington is an oddity. Local schools Seatoun School and Scots College both rank in the top decile.
Established in 1996, the kura kaupapa now teaches 63 children.
The clash of two worlds in middle-class Seatoun is something Forbes ponders every day.
"I guess it's getting better now. But when we're fundraising no one comes. Whether they don't want to support us or whether they're afraid of us, I don't know.
"There are people who complain about us," she says. "There are people who have complained to noise control about us. And then there are so many great people in that community who, every year, come to our gala."
Aside from the lack of community support, what really gets to Forbes is the constant struggle to retain good teachers.
"We're losing good teachers to the mainstream system. It's hard enough trying to get Maori into teachers' college in the first place and then trying to get Maori into teachers' college learning te reo... "
While Forbes is concerned about detaching her children from the mainstream education system, she says kura kaupapa Maori is the only option for families who want to provide their children with a Maori education.
"People say it's elitist and it's separatist to have two trains of thought in education.
"If there was an option for Maori in mainstream I would be there. The teachers are better and the resources are better."
Correspondence School chief executive Mike Hollings did not think his children would have to go to a separate school to learn te reo. But he quickly changed his view when he realised mainstream was too much of a compromise.
Like Forbes, Hollings went through the mainstream system and studied te reo only at tertiary level.
Hollings, who has 30 years' experience in education, says parents who want to send their children to a kura kaupapa must be willing to devote everything.
"You have to make an effort yourself to learn te reo and support your children every step of the way. And if they don't speak the language, well they are going to have great difficulty in trying to learn the curriculum."
He says he and his wife were passionate about the kura. "We lived and breathed it. All of our friends and our social life revolved around kura."
Hollings dismisses suggestions that the lack of English in the schools hinders the chances of kura graduates getting top jobs. "I think it gives them the critical edge, they have two languages, and there are social advantages with being bicultural. In terms of my own children, they weren't great academics at school, but they're all successful people. They're intelligent, well-adjusted bicultural citizens of New Zealand."
Holling's 29-year-old daughter, Maori Television producer Pirihira Hollings, says she had no problem with English during her education.
"We had English classes outside our kura. Our parents weren't ignorant in that we had to learn English, but it's not appropriate to do it within the school grounds."
