There is a place for mathematics and a place for te reo Māori in Aotearoa – Academics

Students from Whangarei Girls High School led Whangarei’s first Te Wiki o te Reo Māori parade. in 2018.
THREE KEY FACTS:
Levi Fox (Ngāti Porou Tūwharetoa) has worked in mental health and social work practice across Australia and Aotearoa. His PhD research focused on understanding the role of indigenous spirituality and ancestral healing frameworks. He is an academic at Gold Coast Griffith University.
Dion Enari is a senior lecturer in sport leadership and management at Auckland University of Technology. He has a PhD in Fa’asamoa and holds the ali’i tulafale title Lefaoali’i from Lepa, Samoa.
OPINION
Te reo Māori funding cuts are a deliberate political move, to decrease te reo Māori speakers and appease political right wing voters.
The Government could have got $30 million from plenty of other sectors for maths. Instead, they chose to defund the language which is native to these lands.
Whakarongo ki te reo Māori e karanga nei – Listen to the Māori language calling.
Those words by te reo stalwart and Māori music composer Ngoi Pēwhairangi have echoed since 1980.
The country just celebrated Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. A language celebration in New Zealand and among Māori all over the world.
People came together with cheeky Māori catchphrases and full-blown kōrero showing the strength of te reo.
For Māori language experts, it is hard to believe this could happen but not surprising for a Government which had vowed to make English the “official” language of New Zealand in a proposed bill.
The Government has completely missed the point and the beauty of te reo Māori.
The late Dame Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira was a staunch Māori language advocate who insisted that teaching te reo is a passion not a job. The goal is to inspire young Māori people.
There is a place for mathematics and a place for te reo Māori in Aotearoa. There is no place for linguicide. Whakarongo ki te reo Māori e karanga nei – Listen to the Māori language calling.
The decision to slash $30m from the te reo Māori training initiative flies in the face of past language leaders like Ngoi and many other champions of te reo today.
This is not about whether math books are more important or not; it is about the protection of a language and cultural connection into the future.
If the Government was truly committed to language revitalisation, there would have been meaningful consultation with Māori educators, iwi and rangatahi about the funding cuts.
The Education Minister ought to have a broader discussion with schools, community and Māori teachers as to why te reo Māori has been rendered fruitless in the classroom.
Why are math grades appallingly low? The Government must admit systemic failures in the education department and accept that it takes time for children to master basic literature and numeracy. That is a needs basis.
Every child has a right to be taught according to their needs.
Every Māori child has a right to be taught te reo and educators have a right to feel confident in their resources to ensure that happens.
Decisions to build more schools should be halted.
Fix the system first and find ways to improve te reo Māori efficacy in the classroom but robbing from the Māori language basket is not the answer. Take the money from somewhere else.