Meanwhile, kura kaupapa Maori just gets on with the job

While Tomorrow's Schools has been in the public eye, Maori have been quietly developing their own alternative. BEVERLEY MANIHI describes kura kaupapa Maori.

Kura kaupapa Maori is an option for parents who want their children to be educated in a holistic Maori environment based on Maori pedagogy, Maori knowledge and embodies the principles, philosophies and practices best suited to best educate and encourage all Maori children.

It provides an environment where te reo Maori is the vehicle of instruction and which introduces other languages later.

Kura kaupapa Maori was developed as an option for kohanga reo graduates. It is not, as sceptics presume, an easy way for Maori to opt out of the mainstream system. Nor is it an option to address all the social and moral injustices or to be seen by state schools as a place to send their Maori students whom they wish to suspend or expel.

Rather it is a committed alternative initiative by Maori to address the demise of the Maori language and culture. It seeks to produce confident students who are fluent in te reo Maori. This knowledge and these skills empower students to allow them to compete in society today and tomorrow.

Kura kaupapa Maori is here to stay. Admittedly, it is still at the grass roots but nonetheless it is growing. It has stunned many onlookers that Maori, with no resources, have had the guts and gall to establish an education system. Many are scratching their heads in amazement that the alternative is still progressing, 14 years down the road.

Looking forward, like the primary school teachers who sought pay parity or the Grey Power movement that seeks social equality or the individuals who seek equity in their own walks of life, kura kaupapa Maori are seeking equity in educational resources, teacher training and professional development.

As in all schools my staff, in addition to delivering and facilitating their chosen curriculum areas, are role models, counsellors, advisers, comforters and disciplinarians, reporters and instructors of various sports and activities.

However, they do not have the luxury of ready resources and texts available in te reo Maori. They must spend many hours creating or translating suitable resources to ensure their students achieve excellence.

It is always easy for the appropriate authorities to point out the deficiencies in schools. Yet despite all the statistics bandied about by politicians about the failure of Maori in education, kura kaupapa Maori still has not been addressed by either the politicians or the Ministry of Education as an educational option.

No, our senior students have not achieved A bursaries yet, but what we do have are well-adjusted graduates who are doing well in their chosen careers or in tertiary pursuits.

Yes, we do have social problems that other schools experience. No student is ever untouched by the consequences of today's society. However, these problems are addressed in-house. We have little or no truancy. Student retention and expulsion are not an issue.

Yes, we have students who honour their cultural uniqueness and who respect the values of other cultures. Yes, we have students who willingly and conscientiously contribute to their overall development.

Kura kaupapa Maori was legislated as an educational option in late 1989. A swish of the pen gave credence to a system that had been running for five years. Schools were being carried by our Maori people. Despite getting the nod from politicians of that era, the educational option was given no viable means of support -- then or now.

We are looking forward to the time when we stand on an equal and equitable platform, no longer having to play catch-up with an education system that has had more than 100 years to get established; when politicians and the powers that be finally acknowledge that the time has come to address the future for kura kaupapa Maori.

We look forward to teacher training schools focused solely on teaching at kura kaupapa Maori, to a time when kura kaupapa Maori teachers have an excess of resources and texts in te reo Maori.

We look forward to Maori traditions such as rongomamau, raranga, whakairo and mau taiaha being recognised in the New Zealand curriculum.

I believe in our rangatahi because they are the keys to the future. I look forward to the time when we truly acknowledge the bicultural partnership; when the Treaty of Waitangi is an integral part of all New Zealanders. Only then can we truly embrace the other cultures that enhance the many facets of life in New Zealand.

* Beverley Manahi is principal of the Hoani Waititi Kura Kaupapa in Henderson.