Four new kura start calculating education self determination

More schools join Ngā Kura ā Iwi. Photo / Whakaata Māori

Four more schools - Te Kura Taumata o Pangaru from Hokianga, Te Kura ā iwi o Ngāti Kauwhata from Manawatū, Te Kura o Manutuke from Gisborne, and Te Pā o Rākaihautu from Christchurch - have signed on with Kura ā Iwi o Aotearoa to enable them to develop their own rōpū curriculum.

They aim to become self-governing in all facets of educating their own people.

“And that’s what we are here for to help them along that journey, to enable them to pursue their own mana motuhake in the world of education,” Kura ā Iwi o Aotearoa lead Watson Ohia says.

Ngā Kura ā Iwi o Aotearoa is a constituted body established in 2007 that represents and supports 43 tribal schools that affiliate voluntarily with it.

It supports the aspirations of iwi, whānau, and kura by advocating on a national and international level for the rights and aspirations of their iwi, families, schools, staff, and students, establishing and nurturing partnerships with tribal entities, government agencies, and the private sector to support the schools’ kaupapa and strategic priorities.

Ryan Tapsell, from new member Te Kura o Manutūkē, says his school wants to make its own tribal identity the official teaching in the school.

“And now as part of Kura ā Iwi o Aotearoa, it is possible, as it will advocate for us with government, it will support our needs.”

Pahau Arapera, from Te Kura ā iwi o Ngāti Kauwhata, says “we are here to announce the commitment of Ngāti Kauwhata to Kura ā Iwi”.

Dough Tewake, of Te Kura Taumata o Pangaru, says: “The education system in our school is from somewhere else. Our own teaching knowledge from home is being lost to this. We are happy to now be part of this movement to create change.”

Te Pā o Rākaihautu is the first South Island kura to join Kura ā iwi o Aotearoa and it is also the only kura in a pā wānanga teaching environment. Te Pā o Rākaihautū is a unique 21st-century pā wānanga (learning village) committed to educational success, which opened in 2015. It is a kura mana motuhake (designated character school), a school that whānau built - for whānau by whānau.

Te Pā is restoring culture, connection, and Identity as a foundation for educational success; reconnecting whanau with places, communities, history, and traditions.

“We thank our new schools. They have gone through a lot to get to where they are today in the hope of one day having mana motuhake over their way of teaching our children and I believe they have joined us for support,” Ohia says.