BICULTURAL: Children should be given the opportunity to learn te reo Maori, New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa president Louise Green says. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
BICULTURAL: Children should be given the opportunity to learn te reo Maori, New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa president Louise Green says. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
All New Zealand children should have the opportunity to learn te reo Maori, the head of the New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa says.
Institute president Louise Green said New Zealanders of the future would need to be more bicultural and multicultural, not less.
"Schools and early childhood educationservices want to support the right of all Kiwi kids to access our country's cultural heritage and the ability to be competent and comfortable in a bicultural environment.
"It's a core part of our curriculum already but we could do much better. The issue is not about making language learning compulsory or not. It is about the urgent need to meet today's demand - many children and their families, both Pakeha and Maori, cannot access the level of teaching and learning of, or in, te reo that they want now.
"What is needed is a much stronger commitment by Government to resource and support teachers and kaiako to improve the education system's ability to meet that need. That means investing more in initial teacher education, ongoing professional development, employing more resource teachers of Maori, upskilling current educators and ensuring there [are] wider whanau and adult learning opportunities available."
