Vital to get names right: Principal

Northland teachers risk being mocked if they say names incorrectly, a primary school principal says.

Kawakawa principal Pita Witana said any teachers who failed to make an effort with unusual names would not be respected in school.

"You leave yourself open for some kid mispronouncing your own name if you can't be bothered," Mr Witana said.

His comments followed Education Minister Hekia Parata's rebuke for teachers who mispronounced names of Maori and Pasifika pupils.

Mrs Parata spoke out as she addressed more than 100 educators at the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) conference in Wellington last week.

"It starts with pronouncing names correctly," she told them. "It's one of the most common things I hear [from] focus groups with Maori and Pasifika kids."

Mr Witana said Northland's large Maori population meant most teachers and students were well-versed in Te Reo and Pasifika names.

"It's more names that are spelt funny ... or you see (on paper) and just have no idea about how to pronounce. But it's always in our interest to get it right ... and we just have to practise until we do," he said.

PPTA president Robin Duff said many in the crowd were stunned by Ms Parata's reference to names: "Those who reacted ... were actually more alarmed by what they considered to be ... increasing evidence of the inability of the minister to be in touch with reality."

The Maori Language Commission says the mispronunciation of names often has a lasting impact on people.

"We've had many comments and stories from people of all ages about the impact of mispronunciation of their names in schools and in a wider context," said chief executive Glenis Philip-Barbara.

"So, I was very pleased to hear Minister Parata raising this as an issue."

More work on pronunciations was needed, she said.