Removing te reo Māori from children's books 'damaging step backwards'
Photo:
Screenshot / Ministry of Education
A leading Māori studies academic says Education Minister Erica Stanford's decision to remove te reo Māori from new early-reading books is "a dangerous move" that breaches both Te Tiriti o Waitangi and human rights.
University of Auckland Professor of Māori Studies and linguist Margaret Mutu (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whātua) believes erasing te reo Māori from children's everyday learning is "an attempt to maintain the doctrine of discovery" and "inculcate white supremacy".
"It's a very, very dangerous move and I feel really sorry for the mokopuna [grandchildren], who are being grossly misinformed and educated wrongly."
Last week, the Education Ministry
canned early-reading book
At the Marae
from its Ready to Read Phonics Plus (RtRPP) series, because it had "too many" Māori words.
Documents released on Wednesday revealed that decision was part of a wider policy, approved by Education Minister Erica Stanford in October 2024, to
exclude all Māori words
, apart from character names, from any new books in the series.
The pukapuka (books) are used in primary schools to help five-year-olds learn to read.
At the time, the decision affected 13 books in development, all of which only included Māori words in character names. The wider series, which currently has 27 books featuring Māori words, could still be reprinted once finished.
The report showed the move was driven by concerns from some literacy experts that including Māori words alongside English could confuse tamariki (children), although evidence on this was "mixed".
Officials advised the minister that "limited" research existed on the impact of kupu Māori in early reading books.
Professor Margaret Mutu claims exposure to more than one language is extremely beneficial.
Photo:
Supplied / University of Auckland
Mutu, who has a PhD specialising in linguistics, said exposure to more than one language at a young age was extremely beneficial.
"Children are particularly capable of obtaining a number of different languages up to the age of six," she told RNZ.
"At that stage, there is just no difficulty, no complication or anything about a child learning multiple languages. It actually gives them much greater intellectual flexibility to be able to understand a whole lot of different things, because they have access to more than one language.
"Being restricted and being monolingual is actually severely detrimental to children," she said. "To deny them this exposure at the age of five is not only stupid, it's very dangerous."
A page from At the Marae, an early reading book that the Education Ministry removed from its Ready to Read Phonics Plus (RtRPP) series for having 'too many' Māori words.
Photo:
Screenshot / Ministry of Education
She also accused the Minister of "falsifying what New Zealand English actually is".
"New Zealand English is full of Māori words and most speakers don't even think about it. It's just part of who they are, as people living in a Māori country."
Mutu pointed to the
Dictionary of New Zealand English
and the
New Zealand Oxford Dictionary
as evidence, both containing hundreds of kupu Māori (Māori words) that are neither place names nor rare.
"What on earth is she trying to do here? Teach five-year-olds a different version of English than the one that actually exists in this country?"
"It's long past time Māori and English were given equal attention in the entire schooling system, so people can be comfortable in this country."
Education Minister Erica Stanford's decision has sparked backlash.
Photo:
RNZ / Mark Papalii
The minister's decision has sparked backlash from
literacy experts
,
principals
, teachers and Māori education leaders. Te Akatea, the Māori Principals' Association, called the move "an act of white supremacy" and "an act of racism".
Mutu agreed and said the change was part of a broader pattern of what she claimed was a "strongly anti-Māori and extremely racist" government.
Despite this, Mutu hoped tamariki would still hear and use te reo Māori in their daily lives, but said removing them from what they read in school was "shameful".
"This is denying the natural intellectual growth of a child. You rob them of the ability to learn multiple languages that starts when they're very young and fades after the age of seven.
"It's a crying shame."
She said, if the purpose of removing te reo from children books was to give access to five-year-old children of the words that they hear on an everyday basis, "then this is not the way to do it".
"It's just silly. Linguistically, it's quite bizarre."
Education Minister Erica Stanford insists she will not remove Māori words from existing books.
Photo:
RNZ / Mark Papalii
RNZ approached the Minister's office for a response, but was declined.
However, on Wednesday, Standford said she would not remove Māori words from existing books and more titles in the series would still include Māori names and place names.
She had also directed the ministry to ensure Māori vowel sounds were taught explicitly in the English curriculum, so they were "not left to chance".
Stanford also pointed out her part in releasing
Rangaranga Reo ā-Tā
, a new set of structured literacy books entirely in te reo Māori, earlier this year.
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