14 April 2020
As we know the whole country is in lock down because of COVID19. It has created a lot of uncertainty with our whānau.
At a recent meeting of those involved in te reo Māori teaching, namely Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust, Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori, Ngā Kura a Iwi o Aotearoa and Te Tauihu o Ngā Wānanga, we had an opportunity to talk about ensuring all of our tauira and tamaiti are able to maintain their education pathway.
Our learning environment has changed. The ability to hug one another, to hongi, things we do naturally as part of everyday life, have been replaced with a wave and a greeting from afar.
As Maori Education leaders we ask that our people use this time to support our tauira and tamaiti to learn about themselves and take the opportunity to reconnect with their loved ones – kuia and kaumātua are just a phone call away or via video messaging – and strengthen your whakapapa and whānau histories. Discussions with pakeke about their lives, their ideas on tikanga and te reo Māori would be precious stories to capture for whānau for the future.
These conversations will enrich tauira and tamaiti knowledge of themselves and build self-efficacy and also support the online or hard copy information being distributed by the education agencies to support our mahi.
The Government has declared that we should all “stay home” and “stay in our bubbles”. We believe it is best thing to do to stop the spread of COVID19 amongst communities. This is about our future and not just today.
There is no doubt that there are challenges with being locked down at home but the recent health figures illustrate there are also positives with the number of people testing positive to COVID19 coming down.
So please: Stay at home, stay in your bubble until it is finished
Kua tīmata te kaupapa, me whakatutuki i te kaupapa
We started the task, let’s finish it
20 April 2020
This morning at the meeting of Te Rāngai Reo Māori - Māori Medium Peak Bodies, namely Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust, Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori, Ngā Kura ā Iwi o Aotearoa and Te Tauihu o Ngā Wānanga, we discussed the recent government announcement regarding COVID 19 Alert Level 3 and the impact on our organisations, tamariki (children), tauira (students), kaimahi (staff), whānau and communities. Te Rāngai Reo Māori continues to support Aotearoa's key strategy to defeat COVID 19 which is "Stay Home, Save Lives".
Te Rāngai Reo Māori agrees that the wellbeing of our people is the priority followed by the learning of our students. Therefore our expectation is that only the people who "need" to go to work or have a major personal wellbeing concern should send their children to kura.
Te Rāngai Reo Māori acknowledges that our organisations including kōhanga, kura, wharekura and wānanga all have their own unique contexts which includes their students, staff, whānau and wider community. Therefore Te Rāngai Reo Māori recognises that each of our kura, their whānau and community have their own “rangatiratanga” and mana motuhake.
We support our kōhanga, kura, wharekura and wānanga to determine how they will operate in a COVID 19 Alert Level 3 environment that prioritises the wellbeing of their students, staff, whānau and community. Furthermore, we trust that our kura and communities will ensure that students can continue with learning that is meaningful, relevant and manageable.
Kua tīmata te kaupapa, me whakatutuki i te kaupapa
We started the task, let’s finish it