Education – Sexuality education programme for Māori medium schools

Please note there are two versions of this article – the first in te reo Pākehā (English) and the second in te reo Māori (Maori). 

TE REO PĀKEHĀ TE IRA TANGATA (TAU 9 & 10) – SEXUALITY EDUCATION PROGRAMME FOR MAORI MEDIUM SCHOOLS

On Monday 15 March, Te Whāriki Takapou launches a new te reo Māori sexuality education programme, ‘Te Ira Tangata (Tau 9 & 10)’ for Māori-medium schools. Funded by the Ministry of Health, the programme took two years to produce, in partnership with wharekura and kura kaupapa Māori teachers, boards of trustees, and whānau.

Professor Mera Penehira, chair of the Board of Te Whāriki Takapou and who has a daughter in Year 13 at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi Marae, says she is proud of the new programme ‘Te Ira Tangata (Tau 9 & 10)’, along with Te Ira Tangata (Tau 7 & 8) which was launched in 2018. Penehira says the response from Māori-medium schools to Te Ira Tangata (Tau 7 & 8) has been extremely positive. 

This is in part, she says, because both programmes incorporate Te Aho Matua and align to Te Marautanga and other key Māori education and te

reo Māori strategies and guidelines.

Māori student success at Māori-medium schools is remarkable. All the evidence indicates that Māori students who speak te reo Māori and are strong in their identity do well across all domains of life, including health and wellbeing. Despite this, and four decades of underfunded te reo Māori revitalisation through kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori, Penehira

says Māori-medium schools are still getting a raw deal.

This year the Ministry of Education contracted for resources to support teachers to deliver healthy relationships and sexuality education in English-medium schools. However, no contract was let to support teachers at Māori-medium schools. Last year the Ministry of Education launched the new curriculum leads for relationships and sexuality education but it is unclear what expertise, if any, will go to teachers at Māori-medium schools.

Meanwhile, Penehira says next year is the start of the United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages, and it’s time the government delivered on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Māori health organisations like Te Whāriki Takapou work with Māori communities to produce programmes like Te Ira Tangata, but there’s no agreed strategy between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education to support healthy relationships and sexuality education in Māori-medium schools. Penehira says it’s time Minister Davis, Associate Minister, Māori Education, worked with the Hon. Minister Hipkins, Minister of Education, to resource and support teachers in Māori-medium schools to teach Te Ira Tangata and similar mātauranga Māori-based programmes for the health and wellbeing of Māori students and the

revitalisation of te reo Māori.

Te Ira Tangata (Tau 9 & 10) is available to the media from the Te Whāriki Takapou website on 15 March 2021 http://tewhariki.org.nz

In Maori: 

TE IRA TANGATA – HE HŌTAKA MĀTAURANGA HŌKAKATANGA MŌ NGĀ

ĀKONGA TAU 9 & 10 KEI NGĀ KURA ARA REO MĀORI

Ā te Rāhina e tū mai nei, ā te 15 o Maehe, ka whakarewa a Te Whāriki Takapou i tētahi hōtaka mātauranga hōkakatanga hōu mō ngā Kura Ara Reo Māori, e kīa nei ko Te Ira Tangata (Tau 9 & 10). Kō taua hōtaka rā he reo Māori katoa, ā, he mea tautoko nā te Manatū Hauora. Kua rua tau a Te Whāriki Takapou e mahi tahi ana i te taha o ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori me ngā Wharekura, ngā poari me ngā whānau, kia tae atu ki tēnei o ngā pae tawhiti ō

E ai ki a Mera Penehira, te tiamana o te poari o Te Whāriki Takapou, me te māmā anō hoki o tētahi tamāhine he ākonga tau 13 ki te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi, e poho kererū ana ia i te hōtaka hou nei, i Te Ira Tangata (Tau 9 & 10), me tā mātou hōtaka tuatahi, Te Ira Tangata (Tau 7 & 8) i whakarewaina i te tau 2018. Hei tā Penehira, mīharo kē ana ngā kōrero ā ngā Kura Ara Reo Māori kua tae ki ōna taringa e pā ana ki Te Ira Tangata (Tau 9 & 10). Ko te take pea, ko te hāngai o ēnei hōtaka e rua ki Te Aho Matua, Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, me ētahi atu o ngā tino rautaki me ngā aratohu o te ao mātauranga me te reo Māori anō hoki.

Kei whea mai te angitū o ngā ākonga Māori kei ngā Ara Reo Māori e kuraina ana! Ko tā ngā taunakitanga katoa e tohu ai, ka tipu ka rea ngā ākonga e kōrero Māori ana, e tū pakari ai i roto I tō rātou Māoritanga, puta noa i ngā tini āhuatanga o te ao hurihuri, pēnei i ngā kaupapa hauora.

He ahakoa rā, me te itinga anō o te pūtea e whakawhiwhia ana e ngā Kura Ara Reo Māori hei hāpai i te whakarauoratanga o te reo Māori mā roto i ngā Kōhanga Reo Māori, ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori me ngā Whare Rumaki, ko tā Penehira e whakapae nei, kāhore anō te Kāwanatanga kia tautoko tika i ngā Kura Ara Reo Māori.

I tēnei tau i pānuitia ētahi kirimana waihanga rauemi e te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga hei tautoko i ngā kaiako ki te whakaako i te mātauranga hōkakatanga me ngā piringa whai mana ki rō Kura Auraki. Heoi, kāore rātou i pērā mō ngā kaiako kei ngā Kura Ara Reo Māori. Nō tērā tau, i whakarewaina e Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga ngā pouārahi marautanga hou mō te mātauranga hōkakatanga me ngā piringa whai mana, engari, e noho matarehu tonu ana mātou mehemea ka tautokona ngā kaiako Ara Reo Māori e aua tūranga hōu.

Ko tā Penehira, hei tērā tau ka tīmata te kaupapa a te Kotahitanga o Ngā Iwi o te Ao (United Nations), arā, ko te ‘International Decade of Indigenous Languages’. Nō reira, me mātua aro e te Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa ki ngā mātāpono o Te Tiriti o Waitangi me te tauākitanga nei, te ‘United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.’ Kia kaua e riro mā ngā

rōpū hauora, pērā i Te Whāriki Takapou, hei mahi ngātahi me ngā hapori Māori ki te waihanga i ngā hōtaka pēnei i Te Ira Tangata. Ka mutu, horekau tētahi rautaki i paku whakaaetia e rāua ko te Manatu Hauora me te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga hei tautoko i ngā hōtaka piringa whai mana me te mātauranga hōkakatanga i roto i ngā Kura Ara Reo Māori.

Ko tā Penehira e whakapuaki nei, me mahi ngātahi e ngā Minita e rua, a Kelvin Davis rāua ko Chris Hipkins, kia tautāwhitia ngā kaiako Ara Reo Māori ki te ako i Te Ira Tangata, me ērā atu o ngā hōtaka mātauranga Māori e pā ana ki te mātauranga hōkakatanga ka tika, kia piki te hauora me te mauri ora o ngā ākonga Māori, ā, kia whakahaumanutia anōtia tō tātou reo Māori.

Hei tikiake i te hōtaka, Te Ira Tangata (Tau 9 & 10), tēnā, toro atu ki te paetukutuku a Te Whāriki Takapou hei te 15 o Maehe 2021: https://tewhariki.org.nz/