Iwi Authority supports call for Cultural Competency

MEDIA RELEASE SUNDAY 8TH JULY 2012

“New Iwi Education Authority supports call by Pita Sharples for Cultural Competency Development for Teachers”

Dr Toby Curtis recently appointed Chairman of the Iwi Education Authority for Nga Kura-a-Iwi o Aotearoa (Tribal Immersion Schools) has come out strongly in support of Associate Minister of Education Pita Sharples’ call for teachers to develop their cultural competency capability as an essential strategy in reducing the appalling rate of suspension for Maori students.

“What has happened to Tataiako (Cultural Competency Standards for Teachers) specifically designed for this purpose. Typically as a Maori initiative they seem to have vanished into thin air.”

“We are calling on all professional teacher organizations and our unions to implement Tataiako. We also want the New Zealand Teachers Council responsible for the registration of teachers to show some leadership in this area.”

“As Iwi leaders, Te Kahui Reo Taketake will not accept as inevitable the plight of Maori learners in education in terms of high suspension rates, retention and participation in NCEA, and underachievement in NCEA.”

“We challenge the traditional powerbrokers in education to come to the table, take ownership of their responsibility for what is happening to Maori learners, be accountable for it and then do something about it. We are beyond finger pointing. We are desperate to do something about it and will work with all education bodies to make it happen. Implementing Tataiako would be an excellent starting point.”
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