Education system defended

Press, 21 April 1984, Page 12

Education system defended

PA Wellington The education system was being used as a scapegoat for some of the failures of Maori children, the Education Department’s director of Maori and Island education, Mr Wiremu Kaa, has said. Mr Kaa said that he was concerned about any child who failed, but believed failure was relative and might be a result of peer-group pressure or lack of parental support rather than the education system. “The system has been used as a scapegoat for some of the failures of Maori children,” he said. The department did not agree with a meeting of school secondary pupils at Huntly at the week-end who decided to plan a national

day of protest about the absence of Maori values in the education system. The hui, which Mr Kaa attended, was called by the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association (P.P.T.A.) to discuss Maori education issues and an absence of Maori values (taha Maori) from the system. Mr Kaa said that there was no absence of taha Maori in the education system. Topics such as family were included in pre-read-ing material except that the terms whakapapa (genealogy) and whenau (family) were not used.

The recent review of the core curriculum for primary and post-primary . schools aimed to incorporate more taha Maori in the system, Mr Kaa said. He also expected teachers from teachers’ college core ■ multicultural courses to im- ’ Kthe teaching of taha < in schools. In addition, the department’s curriculum development unit was working on new material for schools ‘ generally. Mr Kaa said the system was attempting to meet the needs of all children.