Maoritanga in schools 'a must to fight violence’

Press, 16 August 1978, Page 2

Maoritanga in schools ' a must to fight violence’

PA Wellington Society had to change to iccommodate the needs of all New Zealanders if violent offending was to be :ontained and discouraged, the New Zealand Maori Council told Parliament’s Committee on Violent Offending yesterday. The council was making submissions, presented by its president (Mr G. Latimer), on where it felt the present educational, judicial, and social institutions were at fault and where they had contributed to violent offending. It recommended the early introduction of Maoritanga courses in primary schools because Justice Department submissions and other evidence had shown that most Maori violent offenders had not gone beyond form four. Waiting until secondary school before intensive Maoritanga courses were available was too late because some children had already “switched off” school by form one or two. Maoritanga courses should be mandatory where a school had a significant proportion of Maori pupils.

i By giving Maori children a sense of identity, the i council hoped that “gangs” ' of the future would result from the strength of a : strong identity and the , Maori communal values i which went with it. ■ Maoris had lost their identity in moving into cities. Many had joined gangs to replace the kinship ties severed as a consequence of urban migration. “It is the only way they can cope with the isolation and ‘rat race’ of urban living: it is a question of survival,” said Mr Latimer. He said that the council ’ did not condone the antisocial actions of some gangs but it understood the need : for companionship and community that belonging to a . gang provided. Of punishment, the coun-, cil considered that while] present sentences were ade-; quate, a more “rigorous re-j 1 gimen” was needed for vio-l lent offenders. Consideration had to be ; given to establishing an ini stitution similar to the ArIdmore military prison. ‘I “Our research has shown that having once been in the Ardmore military prison, the ’ toughness of its regimen ensured that none returned a second time around,” said Mr Latimer. j Outward Bound-type establishments should also bej I set up for young persons ( showing a violent dis-1

position or who were at high risk. The education system was inadequate. It was geared only to those with academic inclinations who would normally pass the School Certificate and University Entrance examinations.

“The inadequacy of the education system is without doubt one of the main contributors to violent offending,” said Mr Latimer. The education system had to be reviewed and alternative schools set up to accommodate the special talents of those who would not succeed at School Certificate or University Entrance. These schools had to provide a curriculum relevant to the future careers the pupils could have. Form five j pupils attending these (Schools should be required | to do part of their appreni ticeship theory papers at I school, so reducing the ap(prenticeship hours required when they left school. These schools should also provide courses for those who would work in factories and at unskilled work. The courses could explain how a pupil could become a foreman or leading hand, could place factory work on a higher level, and could change people’s attitudes to ’those who did such work, Mr Latimer said. Another let-down had been the trade-training scheme for voun” Maoris initiated by

uhe Maori Affairs Department. This had failed to take account of the large number of drop-outs.