Willow-Jean Prime: Ministers can’t claim they value te reo Māori, while cutting resources

Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime questions why the funding for the Te Ahu o te Reo Māori course has been cut. Photo / Mike Scott
THREE KEY FACTS:
Willow-Jean Prime is an MP and Labour’s associate education (Māori) spokeswoman.
OPINION
The Māori language is a taonga. A treasure. And not only for Māori, but for everyone who calls New Zealand home.
That, and the fact it is the language of the first people who arrived here, is why te reo Māori is an official language of this country.
We use it across the world to demonstrate who we are, from opening sports events to diplomatic engagements. Visitors to our shores are heard eagerly practising “kia ora”, just as it’s used on our national airline to greet them.
So why would the Government cut funding that helps more of us to learn te reo Māori?
Especially one week on from proclaiming an ongoing commitment to having 1 million te reo Māori speakers in New Zealand by 2040. How else are we going to achieve that other than learning the Māori language?
To learn, we need teachers with reo knowledge in our schools to meet the high demand of those wanting to learn te reo.
Last week, Education Minister Erica Stanford announced she was siphoning $30 million out of Te Ahu o te Reo Māori to fund other things.
She called the programme “very expensive” and “poorly performing”. Yet an independent review of the programme found that it was “very popular” and had “outstanding engagement from the sector”.
It also said 87% of participants found the programme gave them confidence to speak te reo in their classrooms, 97% would recommend it to others, and 79% would do another Te Ahu o te Reo Māori course.
What part of this does our Education Minister believe to be “poorly performing?”
Earlier this year, Mana Mokopuna published research on racism, highlighting that Māori children in particular experienced racism, and that school and the education system was the main place where children experienced it.
Teaching te reo Māori at schools is more than the language, it says that Māori is important – and that’s a strong signal to send to students. It also highlights an openness to other cultures, which helps make students from all cultures feel more welcome.
In learning the language, students also learn about te ao Māori, the Māori world. It helps to build the biculturalism that the people of this country are increasingly committed to and proud of. This is about who we are – not only for Māori, but for all of us. It is about our shared history and identity as a nation.
It is also the Crown’s obligation to protect te reo Māori as a living, flourishing language. This obligation is only upheld through action. Government ministers like Tama Potaka and Erica Stanford must work with Māori to develop policies and secure funding to support Māori and meet Te Tiriti obligations. So far, that’s a fail mark.
Ministers can’t keep claiming they value te reo Māori, while cutting resources for our teachers and students to learn it.
Other subjects, like mathematics are also important and should be funded, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of diminishing te reo Māori. As a graduate in Māori studies and a minister, Erica Stanford should know better.
In Government, Labour invested more than $1 billion into Māori education with significant lifts in funding for kōhanga reo, including a big boost to kaiako pay.
This Government chooses to fund wealthy landlords and the smoking industry, but not the things that support our people to flourish.
National must front up on where it stands when it comes to te reo. It’s not a nice-to-have, a tourist attraction or something you proclaim to love just for a week. Our reo is an essential part of our cultural identity – and it should be respected as such.