Proposal for more bilingual schools

Press, 24 June 1978, Page 21

Proposal for more bilingual schools

PA Wellington The Education Department is considering a proposal to establish two bilingual Maori-English schools in Hawke’s Bay.

The proposal has come from the Council for Educational Research and follows the setting-up of a bilingual school at Ruatoki in the Bay of Plenty last year.

The Department’s assistant secretary for schools and development (Mr H. M. McMillan), said that the Ruatoki scheme would need further study before any decisions could be made on the Hawke’s Bay proposal. The Ruatoki school is in a community where Maori is the language ordinarily used. The children there begin their schooling in Maori and are later introduced to English. The Council for Educa-

tional Research has proposed bilingual schools near Napier and on the East Coast in communities where Maori is used, but not as widely as- in Ruatoki. Mr McMillan said there was a need to develop resources for teaching in Maori, and to make sure that bilingual education did not hinder the children’s learning of English as a second language. He had been impressed by a recent visit to Ruatoki.

“The tone and morale, specially in the junior classes, has changed dramatically since Maori was introduced. The children seemed very well adjusted,” Mr McMillan said.

A National advisory committee on Maori-Eng-lish education is now being set up by the department.