After 25 years of operation Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa’s sought-after museum education service is facing the scrapheap as the Rotorua Lakes Council scrambles to cut costs in an attempt to reduce the rates bill for Rotorua ratepayers.

However local educators, social workers and parents have spoken out against the proposal to cut education services, with a warning that students and the entire community will suffer if this important public service is lost to a cost cutting exercise.

Each year over 6,000 local students and over 1,000 students from across New Zealand attend the locally designed programmes which give students a deeper insight into our local people, environment and history through learning about Te Arawa Stories, Tarawera eruption, Rotorua Township (Fenton) Agreement, Sciences and Tourism.

The education service receives funding from council, the Ministry of Education through Enriching Local Curriculum (ELC) funding and since 2010 the Ngāti Whakaue Education Endowment Trust have funded a free bus to make the service more accessible for local students. Non-Rotorua students also pay a nominal fee to attend the service.

However this is all in jeopardy after the Mayor and Councillors recently supported a proposal out for consultation to scrap the service.

The risks of loss of identity, weakened educational opportunities, loss of visitor income for local businesses and poor mental health outcomes are just some of the reasons cited to retain the museum education services in Rotorua.

In her 20 year career Rotorua family counsellor Eva Corson has seen the impact isolation and lack of connection to their community can have to young people.

“We know the lack of community connection can contribute to challenges in mental health and possibly contribute to poor choices around drugs and criminal behaviour, which comes at a high cost to the Rotorua community”

“While there is no silver bullet, the basics are clear; we need to invest in prevention and help our community develop a sense of pride and connection”.

Eva has seen first hand the ways the museum education service helps to build connections through her two children who have attended the service.

“The service helped them make connections to the place they live by learning about our local history though local stories and special places here in Rotorua”

“My son found new meaning in his trout fishing spot on the Kaituna when he learnt Te Arawa explorer Ihenga travelled along the river on his journey to discover Rotorua.”

“My daughter learnt from the service about the use of art - even in weapons, when she was shown places significant to Rotorua such as old battlefields at sulphur point where these had been used. My daughter walked away with new knowledge that made her feel proud about her hometown”.

Local teacher Bryony Edwards says the service provides an unmatchable offering, particularly as it aligns with changes to the curriculum around Mātauranga Māori which requires local and authentic context to programmes.

“If the service is lost we may have to take students outside of Rotorua to fulfil their educational needs, this is not only costly for parents, but provides an enormous of organising for teachers who are already stretched thin”

Bryony says the proposal shows the council do not value education or our youth and are attempting to wash their hands of their responsibility to contribute and enable rich learning connections.

“This is the era of collaboration, if council pulls out then the collaboration between Ministry of Education, Council and Ngati Whakaue will fall over and it will be our students who miss out”.

Kārena Ngata (Ngāti Porou), teacher for 20+ years and Kaiarahi Māori for the New Zealand History Teachers’ Association, and Aotearoa Social Studies Educators’ Network (ASSEN) spokesperson says at a time when support for our schools and kaiako, who are already under immense pressure as they navigate transformative change, the proposal to scrap museum education is a step in the wrong direction.

“The service directly and proactively supports the fostering of a positive cultural identity and a positive sense of belonging.There is an obvious alignment of these outcomes with the Council’s Community Priorities, so this proposal seems counterintuitive not only with their own priorities, but with the national kaupapa of New Zealand’s curriculum refresh.”

Kārena says the scale and scope of this change will take a village, which is “exactly why our Museum Education Team is indispensable now, more than ever”.

“Critically, within their team sits 35+ years of building the trusted relationships, capability and capacity required to work expertly with Te Arawa Taonga Tuku Iho including artefacts, pūrākau and pakiwaitara. As a History Kaiako not of Te Arawa descent, I find their guidance and expertise to be of immeasurable value.”

“To my mind, with the teaching of Aotearoa Histories now mandatory, there is a very

strong case to invest more heavily in our Museum Education Team. We

most certainly cannot afford to lose them. Everyone loses in that scenario.”

We encourage people to make submissions in favour of remaining the service.

Submissions on the Rotorua Lakes Council annual plan close 12 May 2023.

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