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Celebrating the draft curriculum for kura kaupapa Māori
Hon Dr Pita Sharples
Minister of
Māori Affairs
MEDIA
STATEMENT
18 August 2014
Celebrating the draft national curriculum for kura kaupapa Māori
The Minister of Māori Affairs and Associate Minister of Education, Dr Pita Sharples congratulates the kura kaupapa Māori movement for developing their own national curriculum.
Dr Sharples has joined more than a hundred whare kura students at Huinga Reo Wānanga being held at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi in Auckland today to celebrate and honour the work that has been done to date on the draft curriculum.
Te Marautanga o Te Aho Matua has been developed by the national body Te Rūnanganui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa o Māori Aotearoa and it has been trialled by kura kaupapa Māori around the country.
“Te Aho Matua offers a blueprint for the expression of Māori values and beliefs in education. Having a curriculum for Te Aho Matua will support kaiako and kura whānau to implement those Māori principles,” says Dr Pita Sharples.
Te Aho Matua principles include Te Ira Tangata, Te Reo, Ngā Iwi, Te Ao, Āhutanga Ako and Te Tino Uaratanga.[i]
“All of these principles are about putting the learner first, embedding Māori knowledge and ensuring tamariki are receiving instruction in and through te reo Māori.
“I would like to acknowledge the immense amount of work that has gone in to this draft curriculum by Te Rūnanganui and the schools that have agreed to trial it.”
Next year Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi, which was the first school in the country to set itself up based on Te Aho Matua, will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
“In the early days, we were worried our language wouldn’t survive. Today, there are close to 17,000 tamariki at more than 270 Māori medium schools and settings. Māori medium education is now a well established and essential part of New Zealand’s educational landscape,” says Dr Sharples.
Following further trialling, Te Marautanga o Te Aho Matua will be officially launched in April 2015.
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[i] For an brief explanation of these principles in English, go to http://www.runanga.co.nz/about-us
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