Kura foundation for stellar career

A Maori scholarship winner says this year's Ngarimu VC and 28 Maori Battalion Awards demonstrate the value of kohanga reo and kura kaupapa.

Kahurangi Waititi from Te Whanau Apanaui, Ngati Porou and Kaitahu was honoured for her postgraduate work at Waikato University and her netball prowess with the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.

She says six of the eight award recipients went to Maori immersion schools.

Ms Waititi says as one of the first kohanga and kura kaupapa pupils, she remembers the skeptics who said it wouldn't prepare tamariki for the real world.

“You know your reo and tikanga gives you that identity to be able to move in any world you choose to move in and it definitely is a testament to the value of kohanga and kura kaupapa,” she says.

Kahurangi Waititi received the award at Parliament from her father, 28 Maori Battalion veteran Major John Waititi.

PM DEFENDS RACE RELATIONS RECORD FROM ACT HARPING

The Prime Minister is rejecting criticism from ACT that National's relationship with the Maori Party has damaged race relations.

ACT leader Rodney Hide has endorsed former MP Muriel Newman's speech to ACT's weekend conference that the Government was promoting Maori privilege and encouraging welfare dependency.

John Key says ACT is off the mark.

“One of the legacies of our government will be improved race relations and seeing more young Maori becoming successful in New Zealand and we have done a lot of things, whether it be advancing the treaty settlement process and hopefully getting to a more sensible outcome for the foreshore and seabed legislation to simple things like and not being afraid to raise a flag that shows on Waitangi Day Maori and the Crown are standing side by side like they did when they signed the treaty,” he says.

The Prime Minister says the government is getting overwhelming public support for its efforts to build a multi-cultural country based on a bi-cultural foundation.

YOUNG MAORI IN CONTENTION FOR SHEARING GOLD

There are some gun young Maori shearers vying for top honours at the 50th Golden Shears in Masterton this week.

Commentator Koro Mullins says John Kirkpatrick, Dion King, Cam Ferguson and Dean Ball represent the new generation, trying to match the Maori shearing dynasties of the past.

But they have some tough Pakeha to beat, including world champion Paul Avery and five time world champion David Fagan.

TRUNACY FINES ANOTHER HURDLE FOR FAMILIES ON BOTTOM

Green's co-leader Meteria Turia says the government's punitive approach to truancy will keep Maori families in poverty and their children out of the school system.

The Government plans to spend extra on school attendance, including prosecuting the parents of truants.

Ms Turei says one of the reasons Maori truancy levels are so high is that insecure housing means they keep moving and get little chance to settle down in a school.

“Fining families who are already on the lowest possible income, who don’t have the money for proper housing let alone to pay fines, is just a way of keeping those families in poverty and keeping them out of the schooling system. Why would a family commit to schooling when they know if there are any problems they could be hit with a huge fine,” she says.

FLAXMERE AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMME WINS OSCAR PRIZE

The only registered kaupapa Maori after school programme has been honoured for service to the Hastings community.

The Te Aka Consultants won three awards from OSCAR, the Out of School Care and Recreation programme.

Alayna Hokianga and her husband established the After Kura Activities programme for 5 to 13 year olds in 2007 because Flaxmere children had nowhere to go after school.

She says the bilingual programme appeals to parents with children in mainstream schools who want to encourage the use of te reo.

“They have found their children have learned more in terms of te reo, tikanga Maori from our after school because we hammer it every day whereas in schools they might get a bit of Maori depending on what class they're in,” Mrs Hokianga says.

Te Aka won the region's Most Outstanding OSCAR Programme, Best Family and Individual Awards, and is a finalist in the National awards in May.

TOUCH ENTHUSIAST GERARD NGAWATI DIES

Maori touch rugby has lost its pou and rangatira.

Gerard Ngawati from Ngati Hine, Ngapuhi and Ngati Porou died on Tuesday aged 54.

As well as setting up Maori Touch in the 1990s with his wife Carol, Mr Ngawati worked as a Pouwhakataki for the Ministry of Education, and in Maori training and employment at the Hillary Commission and Skill New Zealand.

Teresa Hindle from Maori Touch says his enthusiasm for using sport as a vehicle for personal and Maori development was infectious, and many whanau benefited from his commitment.

Gerard Ngawati will be taken from his Titirangi home to Hoani Waititi marae this morning, before Ngati Hine takes him back to Te Rito Marae at Otiria.

Truancy moves part of wider education reform

The Prime Minister John Key says measures are needed to address why half the 30,000 kids wagging classes each day are Maori or Pacific Islanders.

Yesterday the budget for fighting truancy was boosted to $8 million a year.

John Key says that's on top of investment in curriculum and national standards, so kids have the basics and don't describe themselves as dumb.

He says school won't be the best place for every student, which is why alternatives are being developed.

“Our youth guarantee scheme is basically aimed at all of that. Instead of saying to a child that’s probably in year 10 or year 11, year 12, look stay at school, do the three Rs, and that will be the thing you need to do, why don’t we say we can pass this back to a polytech or wananga or whatever it might be that have those courses that may be more interesting,” Mr Key says.

He says education in a relevant manner is a top priority for the government.

RACE CRITICISM FROM ACT NOT CREDIBLE

Labour leader Phil Goff says ACT's claim the Maori Party is damaging race relations and promoting Maori privilege is a bit rich coming from a party that blocks Maori aspirations at every turn.

The claims were made in a speech by former MP Muriel Newman to ACT's annual conference, and endorsed by leader Rodney Hide.

Mr Goff says in one breath ACT blocked Maori representation on the Auckland super city, and in the next it criticises the other government support party for promoting Maori issues.

“The Act Party is the ones that wanted to implement Don Brash’s report for the National Government to cut the statutory minimum wage by $100 a week and pay more money to their very wealthy mates. Well sorry. The Act Party doesn’t represent the New Zealand that I believe in. I don’t put much store on its words on anything,” Mr Goff says.

NGARIMU AWARD SPECIAL FOR DAUGHTER OF BATTALION VETERAN

Getting a Ngarimu VC and 28 Maori Battalion Memorial Scholarship has a special meaning for Kahurangi Waititi.

The Te Kaha 27-year-old from Te Whanau Apanaui, Ngati Porou and Kaitahu was one of the eight winners from a field of 57.

She felt proud to pick up the tohu at Parliament this week alongside her 88 year old father, who served in C company alongside second Lieutenant Moananui a Kiwa Ngarimu.

“There is that connection with the 28 Maori Battalion. I’ve grown up with stories of the Maori Battalion. My father was one of those soldiers, Major John Waititi. I think he was really happy because I’m sure he’s aware of how competitive these scholarships are,” she says.

Kahurangi Waititi has completed a Master's degree from Waikato University where she researched applying kaupapa Maori processes to documentary film making, and she also plays netball for the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.

MAORI TELEVISION LEAD BROADCASTER FOR FREE RUGBY

Maori Television is celebrating the final deal on free-to-air television rights deal for next year's Rugby World Cup, which allows it to broadcast all 48 games of the tournament, 16 of them live.

Television One and TV3 will each simulcast seven key games live.

Chief executive Jim Mather says the channel's objectives were met.

“We're very pleased that we’ve been able to secure the rights for our te reo channel because that means that those 16 key live games will be broadcast 100 percent in te reo and on our Maori Television channel we have agreed the Maori language content can be up to 10 percent so we think we are gong to have the language and cultural bases very well covered under this arrangement,” he says.

Mr Mather says Maori Television is still planning for complementary programming around the tournament, even though it lost the Te Puni kokiri subsidy originally intended to allow this to happen.

IWI GO FOR AGREEMENT ON PULP MILL DISCHARGES

Three eastern Bay of Plenty iwi have signed an agreement with the operators of the Tasman Pulp and Paper Mill to work together to improve the quality of the Tarawera River and surrounding land.

Ngati Awa, Ngati Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau and Ngati Rangitihi objected to Carter Holt Harvey Pulp & Paper and Norske Skog Tasman getting a 25-year resource consent.

But Graham Pryor from Ngati Rangitihi says now the consent is through, subject to appeals to the Environment Court, the iwi want a less adversarial way to engage with the companies.

“The consent process that we went through, pretty much everything that was requested by the individual iwi was met, so we haven’t got any issues right now with the consent process. There are review periods and there are things that have to be done over certain time periods. There are some people who are not happy with that but I think a lot of those issues will be addressed in future as we work through this,” Mr Pryor says.

About 100 people were at Umutahi Marae in Matata today to witness the agreement.

MANUREWA KURA GETS TO GO IT ALONE

There was a big turn out at Te Wharekura O Manurewa today to hear the Minster of Maori Affairs, Pita Sharples, officially grant the Maori immersion secondary school stand alone status.

Since it started a decade ago the kura has operated under the umbrella of kura kaupapa from Kaitaia and Mangere, but the agreement with the Ministry of Education means it can operate autonomously from the beginning of April.

Tumuaki Mahia Nathan says staff, students and Manurewa Maori appreciated Dr Sharples' personal touch, rather than just sending a letter.

The kura will soon move from relocatable classrooms behind Manurewa Marae to a new site in Brown's Road next to Homai College.