Nine kura kaupapa Māori sites now sit across the motu, including in Ōruawharo, Kaitāia, Hokianga and Whangaroa.
That’s welcome news for Northland mother Kaeli Tuhimata, who is already on the search for the perfect fit that meets the needs of her 3-year-old.
There are many reasons Tuhimata wants to send her daughter to a school with Māori at the centre, but she said the “revitalisation of Māori culture” had been a big push for her.
It was important to her that Arita-Jay grew up connected and empowered within her culture.
“[And] just living in that kind of world and starting from young, it will become natural.”
She knows first hand the harm that can be done by jumping in and out of mainstream schooling.
“I was in kura kaupapa myself when I was younger and I had the reo. But then I lost it through late primary and intermediate.
I got it back in high school when I went into full immersion, but I chose to go into mainstream where I lost all it [te reo].”
Some children aren’t brought up as immersed in their culture — something the right kura could help bridge the gap with, she said.
She believes being around the culture and participating where traditional Māori gender roles dictate — like leading a waiata (song) — would help grow her daughter’s confidence.
Furthermore, she’s excited to see the possible connections that might be created.
“We’ve just recently moved to Whangārei and we don’t know our roots as much [there] as our other half. Since we’re [now] on the whenua she can meet people that she might actually be related to.”
The search for the perfect school came about when Tuhimata was asked what school she was looking at enrolling her daughter in.
“I didn’t have the answer, but I knew that I wanted my daughter to go into a Māori organisation or full immersion, so I thought I’d start looking around.”
She’s a champion for kura kaupapa.
“Having kura kaupapa is necessary because it’s the foundation that people need that could stop so many of these generational curses.”
“[There’s] people growing up in gangs and poverty, and they’re all Māori and Pasifika — a lot of people are trying to find connection through these gangs.
“If you are Māori, that connection [can be found] at kura kaupapa.”
A recent study by the New Zealand Centre for Educational Research found a strong sense of identity contributes to tamariki being successful in school.
“It assures tamariki that they belong, they are valued, and should be proud of who they are and where they come from,” it states.
Despite the leaps and bounds forward for Māori education options over the decades, there’s still a growing need, says Halkyard-Harawira.
The growing demand comes with a call to consider more junior kura to feed into wharekura (secondary schooling), she said.
She noted there were talks to establish a kura kaupapa Māori in Dargaville that would be a welcome addition because there is only one full-immersion school between Whangārei and Auckland.
That kura — Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngaringaomatariki — is hoping to relocate to Kaiwaka in the hopes of providing space to 250 students.
She said there should be more investment in tamariki at preschool and in primary care.
“There is more money spent on prison inmates per year whereas the Government should invest in children.”
“[Also] for many people, mainstream education failed Māori students [and] set low expectations. So Māori educationalists want to break those cycles.”
Note: A previous version of this story wrongly said Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngaringaomatariki was hoping to relocate to Te Hana. This has since been amended as the correct town is Kaiwaka.
Brodie Stone is an education and general news reporter at the Advocate. Brodie has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.
