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The Spinoff
31-07-2025
- Politics
- The Spinoff
A youth MP's powerful speech called out the chronic underfunding of kura kaupapa Māori
Amid the noise around claims of censorship at Youth Parliament, Hana Davis delivered a searing critique of systemic inequity in Māori-medium education – and a rallying cry for justice in kura kaupapa Māori. Korus MacDonald reports. Youth parliament is a triennial event that provides a platform for passionate rangatahi with a flair for politics to advocate for and amplify the voices of their respective communities. The programme – which took place earlier this month – culminates in a three-day event at parliament in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. An inherent value of the event is its ability to broadcast a breadth of perspectives in a supportive manner, and the general debate speeches delivered by the youth representatives clearly demonstrated this nuance and diversity. Amid the 80 general debate speeches delivered at this year's event – spanning topics like mental health and a need for stronger civic and financial education to censorship – one cut through, exposing a growing concern for the future of kura kaupapa Māori under the status quo. While a number of speeches were made on the education system, the difficulties kura kaupapa Māori currently face were largely absent from the debating chamber – until the speech given by Hana Davis, chosen by Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris to represent Te Tai Tonga. 'Kura kaupapa Māori aho matua are more than just schools,' Davis said. 'They are the living expression of our right as Māori to educate our tamariki in our own language and according to our own worldview – a right that is guaranteed under te Tiriti o Waitangi.' Of the approximately 204,000 Māori school students recorded in Aotearoa in 2022, one in eight, or around 12%, are enrolled in Māori-medium education. That's 24,500 students spread across 344 kura across the motu. Within this group, 30% or around 7,200 students attend one of the 70 kura kaupapa Māori across the country, including Davis (with most of the remaining 70% in rūmaki reo/immersion or reo rua/bilingual units at English-medium schools). Data from the Ministry of Education shows that enrolments in Māori-medium education have risen from 22,391 in 2020 to 27,125 in 2024 – a 20% increase over the course of four years and a clear indication of the support and demand for Māori-medium education and kura kaupapa. Yet, despite the funding inequities kura kaupapa Māori face, they continue to deliver academic excellence on the national stage. As Davis put it: 'What is often overlooked is that kura kaupapa Māori students are already excelling, consistently achieving higher NCEA pass rates than Māori in mainstream schools.' A report by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority shows that in 2023, there were 1,857 Year 11-13 students enrolled within Māori-medium education. A total of 1,005 of those students were from kura kaupapa Māori aho matua. These students had NCEA attainment rates of 63% at Level 1, 72% at Level 2, and 73% at Level 3. Attainment rates for all students in comparable mainstream schools were 54%, 66%, and 61%, respectively. The success of kura kaupapa is no accident. Speaking to me, Davis credited the success to te aho matua and the environment it fosters for rangatahi. Te aho matua is the philosophical foundation that makes kura kaupapa Māori fundamentally different from mainstream schools. In such an environment, students are immersed entirely in te reo Māori and enveloped in a value-based education system, encouraging the championing of values such as tikanga, whakapapa and cultural connections. 'Kids in [kura kaupapa Māori] aho matua schools grow up together, go to kōhanga together and they stay in the same classes at the same school their whole lives,' explained Davis. 'It's a big, family-like community and an amazing support system. Kura kaupapa Māori students are in tune with their whakapapa and the ways of their people. They have their sense of identity and a place to belong, which is so vital for a kid.' Davis's speech highlights a pivotal time for kura kaupapa Māori. With enrolment surging and academic results consistently strong, these schools illustrate the success of kura kaupapa for Māori students. However, the inequities they face undermine this success. 'Kura kaupapa Māori are forced to operate with stretched resources in overcrowded, poorly conditioned and sometimes hazardous buildings, leaving the mātua of students to fundraise for basic resources,' Davis said. This is in stark contrast to Davis's experiences with mainstream schools. 'It always baffled me walking into other mainstream schools with my fellow kaupapa Māori kids, and our first thought was 'this is so fancy', and it's simply because the school is not falling apart,' Davis told me. Her concern reflects a legacy of neglect and mistreatment by the government and formally recognised by the Waitangi Tribunal. In October of 2021, an urgent claim was lodged by Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori, the representative body for kura kaupapa Māori. The ruling of the claim, referred to as WAI 1718, was released last year and found the government was in breach of its Treaty obligations for failing to implement policy that addressed the needs of kura kaupapa, including equitable funding. Additionally, the tribunal found that there was no consultation with Te Rūnanga Nui on policies affecting kura kaupapa, constituting Treaty obligation breaches. While there has been a recent investment of $100 million in Māori-medium education, Davis highlighted the discrepancies in funding with mainstream counterparts. 'That same amount is being shared across all kura.' In fact, of this year's $2.5 billion budget for education, only $104m was set aside for Māori-medium-related projects ($36.1m of which was reprioritised from the disestablishment of the Wharekura Expert Teachers programme and other initiatives). That's less than 5% of the total educational budget. Infrastructure, foundational to any education, was assigned $50m of that $104m, and the minister of education, Erica Stanford, later announced a further $100m investment, including $60m in 'ring-fenced' property funding. The current $110m allocated for infrastructure expenses is far short of the annual funding Te Rūnanga Nui believes should be dedicated to the infrastructure funding of kura kaupapa Māori. The group recently called on the government to implement a long-term, ring-fenced investment plan of $1.25bn over five years – $250m annually – dedicated to kura kaupapa Māori property development. Despite representing around 3-4% of the total student population, kura kaupapa Māori received less than 3% of the Ministry of Education's property budget between 2021 and 2025, according to Te Rūnanga Nui. That means just 70 kura, serving more than 7,000 students, have been operating in what the Waitangi Tribunal has called a chronically underfunded system. Over the same five-year period, only $680m – about 4% of the total $15.3bn education budget – was allocated to Māori-medium education overall. The Crown has acknowledged these learners have historically operated at an unfair funding deficit, even after a 50% equity boost in 2022. In response to Te Rūnanga Nui's concerns, Stanford emphasised that she wished there was more money, but 'we were living in a constrained environment'. Davis doesn't buy that. 'This is while three individual mainstream high schools are each receiving $100m. Let's be clear, that is triple the amount given to every Māori-medium kura in the country combined,' she says during her speech. Wellington Girls' College is set to receive approximately $100m in investment for the construction of a new two-storey building, school hall and earthquake strengthening in multiple areas of the school. Likewise, two high schools in the Selwyn District – Rolleston and Ellesmere College – are set to collectively receive over $100m for campus upgrades. Davis argues that this shouldn't be about equality, but equity. 'Every learner deserves a safe, well-resourced environment, but it does raise a fair question: are we ensuring that support is being distributed in a way that reflects the success, value and specific needs of all parts of the education system?' Davis asked during her speech. Concluding, Davis delivered a passionate call to action: 'Mr Speaker, our kura deserve safe buildings, properly resourced teachers, and a system that recognises the value they bring to our country. Let's make sure that kura kaupapa Māori are not only included in national conversation but are prioritised in national action.'
Scoop
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Budget 2025: Māori Educators Say Boost Won't Fix Poor School Buildings
Kura Kaupapa Māori say Budget 2025 will fail to address their longstanding concerns around substandard school properties. Māori Medium schools received funding in the Budget for approximately 50 new teaching spaces. Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa said at present, close to 40 Kura Kaupapa Māori remain on the Ministry of Education's property backlog list. Co-chair of Te Rūnanga Nui Rāwiri Wright said dividing this limited funding across all Māori-medium settings - including Māori immersion units in mainstream schools - will leave kura with next to nothing. "We are being kept in the dark. There is no clear breakdown of how this funding will be allocated, no equity in the process, and certainly no commitment to a genuine Treaty-based partnership. Meanwhile, our whānau continue to send their tamariki to kura that are falling apart. "This is not a genuine solution. It's yet another example of the Crown's ongoing failure to prioritise Kura Kaupapa Māori," Wright said. Te Rūnanga Nui called on the government to implement a long-term, ring-fenced investment plan of $1.25 billion over five years - $250 million annually - dedicated to Kura Kaupapa Māori property development. Over the past five years, the Ministry of Education has allocated less than 3 percent of its property budget to Kura Kaupapa, highlighting a significant underinvestment in this area, Te Rūnanga said in a statement. "Te Aho Matua defines our kura. Our buildings must reflect the values, identity, and excellence of our tamariki," Wright said. Chief executive Hohepa Campbell said this is why Kura Kaupapa Māori lodged an urgent claim with the Waitangi Tribunal. "The Tribunal has since confirmed what we have been saying for years-that the Crown has systematically underinvested in our kura and failed to implement dedicated policy or adequate funding to support our kaupapa," he said. During the hearings for the claim, Tribunal members visited Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Mokopuna in Wellington and were visibly shocked at the substandard facilities tamariki are expected to learn in, Campbell said. In its closing arguments, even the Crown acknowledged that kura are under-resourced and that historical issues demand significant investment. The report found the Crown had breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi by failing to develop bespoke policies and investment strategies to address the specific needs of Kura Kaupapa Māori. Māori Education Package The Budget set aside more than $36 million over four years for a Māori Education Package, which included funding for five components: Training and support for up to 51,000 teachers in Year 0-13 schools to learn te reo Māori and tikanga. A Virtual Learning Network for online STEM education to more than 5500 Year 9-13 students in Kura Kaupapa and Maori Medium education. Seven new curriculum advisors to help teachers in using the redesigned Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. New curriculum resources in te reo matatini and STEM for around 5000 senior secondary students. Developing a new Māori Studies subject area for The New Zealand Curriculum, for Year 11-13 English medium schools. However, this package was funded by reprioritising funding from other initiatives, including disestablishing the Wharekura Expert Teachers programme and disestablishing roles for Resource Teachers of Māori, among other repriorritised funding initiatives. Te Rūnanga Nui said they were appalled by the funding cut to expert wharekura teachers. "This decision undermines the very heart of quality wharekura secondary education. Our tamariki deserve access to specialist teachers who can provide high-level Te Aho Matua and NCEA curriculum expertise. Cutting this support is not only shortsighted - it is negligent," their statement read. Education Minister Erica Stanford said the wider investment in education is the most significant investment in learning support in a generation. "Backed by a social investment lens, this is a seismic shift in how we support learning needs in New Zealand. We're deliberately prioritising early intervention, investing in what works and directly tackling long-standing inequities in the system."
Otago Daily Times
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Māori children should matter in our mainstream schools
In a recent interview with Mihi Forbes, Education Minister Erica Stanford discussed how the minister intended to improve outcomes for Māori children in mainstream 90% of Māori children attend mainstream schools, where they generally do worse than their peers, while those children in kura kaupapa Māori (Māori-medium education) thrive, outperforming their mainstream peers. A 2021 report on the successes of kura kaupapa Māori said one of the key markers was that kaiako (teachers) and kaimahi (staff) were competent and knowledgeable in tikanga, te reo Māori and Māori knowledge. So it was good to hear the minister's enthusiastic response to the questions of how she planned to address the disparity for Māori children and what lessons could be learned from kura kaupapa Māori. "If we are serious about closing the equity gap and having a bilingual education system — which we are — then we have to equitably resource it," she said. However, when pressed on specific actions and what approaches mainstream schools could adopt from Māori-medium success, her response was much vaguer: "There's probably something we need to learn here in the mainstream ... to implement some of those successful things [from Māori-medium schools]." At a fundamental level, one of those "some things to learn" — as highlighted by educators like Rawiri Wright, co-chair of Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa — is integrating the Māori world view into mainstream schooling to lift achievement for Māori students. The minister was circumspect on this and could not identify anything specific that she might bring into or support in mainstream schools. Which was very odd, because one of those specifics is the success of resource teachers: Māori and resource teachers: literacy. She has successful programmes in operation right now, in mainstream schools, that she could enhance with more funding. Jeanette Fitzsimons once said to me that to understand a government's environmental policy, you had to look at its economic policy. That would tell you the truth of its intentions. The same logic applies here: if we want to see the government's true priorities for Māori education, we need only look at what it funds and what it cuts. And what does that reveal for Māori children? The government is cutting funding for 174 specialist teaching roles — resource teachers: literacy (121 roles) and resource teachers: Māori (53 roles) — who work in both mainstream and Māori-medium schools. Resource teachers: Māori support bilingual and immersion programmes in schools, assisting teachers with curriculum planning and implementation. They provide teacher education in te reo and tikanga Māori and deliver professional learning and development for teachers. They help to produce high-quality resources and activities. They work closely with educators to assist with student assessment and programme evaluation. They help teachers to become more competent and knowledgeable in teaching Māori children. They are experts in fostering an inclusive and culturally rich learning environment for both students and teachers. So what is the justification for cutting these expert roles? A claim that this will create a "more efficient" support system. We've seen this before, cuts marketed as "efficiency" leading to substandard services that harm children — hello, David Seymour's Food in Schools programme. There is no reason to expect Ms Stanford's "efficiency" cuts will be any different. There are only two resource teachers: Māori in the Otago region and three in the Southland region. These front-line resource teachers are already overworked and under-resourced, yet they provide critical support for students, their whānau and their teachers. They could do so much more with just a little more. When asked about the cuts to these Otago and Southland roles, National MP for Southland Joseph Mooney responded: "These services are inequitably distributed, not achieving the coverage we need and creating large-scale inefficiencies where individual staff are trying to cover huge geographic areas and multiple schools across large clusters." Yes, quite, Mr Mooney. The inequity and the workload problems you identify justify increasing resources for the critical programme, not cutting it for some unclear, unproven "optimised education workforce model". This ill-conceived decision to cut these expert resource teachers is a direct assault on bilingual and immersion programs in state schools and on the children, Māori and Pākehā, that these programmes serve. The cuts undermine proven methods that help Māori students succeed. While the minister claims she wants Māori children to succeed in mainstream schools and to learn from successful Māori education models, her funding priorities tell the real story: Māori students matter less in mainstream schools. ■Metiria Stanton Turei is a senior law lecturer at the University of Otago and a former Green Party MP and co-leader.
