Another View: Kura to lift education for Maori

Moea Armstrong want to level of education services to lift for Maori.

I write as a parent at Te Kura Hourua o Whangarei Terenga Paraoa.

The kura community acknowledges the concerns that the PPTA has in regards to the potential harm of chain-store education - the globalisation and privatisation of education.

However, the two new kura are not aiming to make a profit, only to lift Maori educational achievement.

We know that teachers want the best education for children that is possible. So do we. The kura teachers are trained and registered.

We acknowledge that teachers work under pressure and that the statistics for Maori are slowly improving. But they are still just not good enough for us to do nothing.

The kura community has a moral imperative to try anything available that may result in equal educational outcomes. The partnership model is a tool that has been chosen for the freedom it gives to try a very different approach to 21st century education.

The PPTA says that the kura will diminish the opportunities available to other students. Did they boycott Huanui College?

Should Maori be forced to accept the current educational statistics in favour of more subject choices for others? The kura will still be here along with our aspirations to excellence no matter how much the rules or the names change in Parliament. These are mana whenua kura, just as the successful Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Rawhiti Roa is.

The PPTA is in a position to acknowledge our unique reality in Whangarei. If they are proud of mainstream achievement in educating Maori after more than a century of taking over the job, then so be it.

But local teachers and boards of trustees should speak up if they think that Maori-focused bilingual kura might just have something of unique value to offer.

By choosing to work alongside the kura by providing some subjects, local schools can elevate the importance of the Treaty relationship over other worthy principles, making an attempt at partnership real and not just a platitude. Being Maori is not just about being available when a haka or a powhiri is wanted. It must mean better academic success or Te Tai Tokerau as a whole will suffer.