10. Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Māori Party) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
Kua pānuitia e ia te kōrero a te Minita mō Ngā Take Māori, arā, “Koi nei te wā tuatahi kia whakanuia e te marautanga te mana o Te Reo Māori hai reo motuhake i raro i te ture”, ā, he aha i hipa ai te rua tekau tau mai i te whakamanatanga o te Ture Reo Māori o te tau tahi mano, iwa rau, waru te kau mā whitu, kātahi anō te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga ka mōhio, he mana anō tō Te Reo Māori i raro i te ture?
[Has he read the Minister of Māori Affairs’ statement that “For the first time the curriculum also respects the status of te reo Māori as an official language”, and why has it taken 20 years since the Maori Language Act 1987 for education to recognise the status of te reo Māori as an official language?]
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Education) Link to this
This is the first time that this Labour-led Government has completed a comprehensive review of the New Zealand curriculum. When the National Government published previous versions of the New Zealand curriculum in the 1990s, it failed to acknowledge the official status of te reo Māori. In line with this Government’s strong commitment to te reo Māori, we have taken this opportunity to recognise te reo as an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Is he aware that in 1993 the New Zealand Curriculum Framework, which I hold in my hand, recognised the Maori Language Act 1987, specifying on page 10 that te reo Māori was an official language; if so, how does he explain the statement of the Minister of Māori Affairs yesterday that te reo Māori has now been added as an official language, when its status had already been confirmed some 14 years ago?
What the Associate Minister of Education and Minister of Māori Affairs said in his statement was that it was the first time its status was contained within the New Zealand curriculum. This is the first time that the New Zealand curriculum—the overall framework by which education will be practised in our schools—contains reference to te reo Māori as an official language of New Zealand. This is a first and important step in recognising the partnership between peoples in New Zealand.
Moana MackeyWhat is the Labour-led Government doing to support the learning of te reo Māori in New Zealand schools?
We are doing a lot. The Labour-led Government has a specific Māori Language Strategy, which includes establishing and investing in Māori television and radio, supporting Māori medium education in the kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa movement, and funding scholarships for teachers of te reo. This work has been driven with enormous enthusiasm and success by the Associate Minister of Education, the Hon Parekura Horomia. We are achieving wonderful results: nearly 22,000 successful National Certificate of Educational Achievement and Scholarship results were earned by students of te reo last year, and from 1999 to 2006 there was an increase of more than 12 percent in the number of students achieving te reo Māori at level 1. These are very pleasing results.
Why has it taken 10 years for the Ministry of Education to do what the Government Māori Language Strategy was introduced in 1997 to do: to encourage Government departments to implement the Maori Language Act 1987?
I applaud personally the member’s interest in, and passion about, te reo Māori. As I have just outlined in an answer to a previous member, our Government has done a lot to encourage and support the teaching of te reo Māori in New Zealand. Yesterday we launched our first new New Zealand curriculum for well over 30 years. It contains reference to te reo Māori as an official language of New Zealand. I am really proud that that document contains that statement.
If 2007 is the first time that the curriculum has recognised the status of te reo Māori as an official language, what recognition did the Ministry of Education give to either the 1987 Maori Language Act or the 1989 Education Act, which provided formal recognition of kura kaupapa Māori and wānanga, our first kura having been established some 22 years ago, in 1985?
I feel we are splitting hairs here. The education system gave a lot of focus to te reo in earlier periods, and so it should have, but for the first time we have explicitly stated in the document that is the framework for all New Zealand schools that te reo Māori is an official language of New Zealand. That is something to be applauded, and that is why my colleague Parekura Horomia made that statement, and so he should have.