Only four of an original nine schools remain in Aotearoa; Hukarere College, St Joseph's Maori Girls' College and Te Aute College in Hawke's Bay (Ikaroa-Rawhiti) and Hato Paora College in Feilding (Te Tai Hauauru).

Hato Tipene closed its doors in 2000 followed by their sister school Kuini Wikitoria in 2001.

Turakina shut down in 2015 and now Hato Petera, based in North Auckland in 2019.

Te Aute College principal Shane Hiha says the school appreciates any political party that supports the "special character" of Maori boarding schools.

"By no stretch of the imagination are we rich schools," he said.

"A number of Maori represent the negative statistics in society and to help them get an education is really important.

"We have 60 boarders and there is every indication that we will have more next year.

Labour's Ikaroa-Rawhiti candidate Meka Whaitiri said Maori boarding schools carry on a tradition that has grown many great Maori leaders.

"This is a significant commitment acknowledging the history and legacy of these iconic Maori boarding schools and how they continue to contribute to Maoridom and the nation today," Whaitiri said.

"The rangatahi who attend these schools live and breathe Tikanga, reo and develop a sense of whanaungatanga that can only be achieved inside these unique institutions.

"Successive governments have given up on Maori boarding schools, but Labour believes in the unique role they play, not just in educating rangatahi, but in instilling Maori values in the next generation of leaders.

Source

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Keri Milne-Ihimaera was the principal of Moerewa School in Northland for 10 years. For two of those years, the school was under statutory intervention, governed by a commissioner brought in by the Ministry of Education Read more

After the meeting, the rangatahi section took a walk around part of Mt Taranaki.

Part of the purpose of the Easter Hui Aranga is to engage young Maori in embracing who they are as Maori and Catholic.

"After some beautiful korero amongst our rangatahi on the Hui Aranga, Miha, Waka Aroha and other kaupapa, our Rangatahi Forum travelled to Parihaka to visit Pa Hemi Hekiera and were hosted by Te Kahui Taiohi o Taranaki Iwi at Te Paepae" said Rawiri Tinirau, chairperson of the Kaunihera Matua of the Hui Aranga (Central Council Chair).

"Later, we enjoyed and experienced blessings of snow and aroha on Maunga Taranaki near Te Rere o Kapuni."

"After a visit to our Araukuku whanau celebrating Uncle Boyce's 80th birthday at Hoani Papita, our rangatahi returned to Muru Raupatu Marae with Our Lady, who will grace us with her presence at Miha Maori at Nga Pekanga."

Click here to see more photographs

There are about 14 Clubs who come together each Easter.

They cover the area from Whangarei in the North through Tauranga and Hawkes Bay, across to Taranaki, through the Central North Island, down the Whanganui River and ending in Wellington.

Next year the Hui is being hosted by two clubs in Taranaki, Araukuku (Hawera) and Nga Pekanga (Waitara - Bell Block). It will be based at the TSB Hub with several hundred participants accommodated at local Marae.

The meeting efficiently covered a wide range of matters. These included dietary matters, choir judges, religious quiz, funding, liturgy, and the ‘Taonga' or awards which carry the mana of various generations of Maori catholic elders.

One faithful participant was Sr Makareta Tawaroa RSJ, who celebrates her 50th jubilee this year.

She is one of the religious quiz promoters. She had prepared booklets for the three sections involved (Mokopuna; Rangatahi; Matua - Midgets; Junior and Senior) which were avidly collected to start swotting up the material for next year!

Given a current shortage of Religious and priests to support the Hui Aranga, a discussion arose about the possibility of promoting Maori Catholic Catechists or permanent deacons.

One agreed point was such people need the backing of wives, whanau and Clubs.

2020 will mark the 75th jubilee of this Easter Hui which initiated at Pukekaraka, Otaki in 1944. The hosts will be the Wellington Clubs.

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Late on Tuesday Judge Pheroze Jagose granted the bishop an order to the protesters to leave the land and remove their property within 48 hours.

However, he declined a request by the church's lawyer for a further order authorising police to use force if necessary to evict the protest group.

But when RNZ visited the site on Thursday afternoon around 10 people were gathered beside their cars.

While they declined to comment they said staff from the Diocese had been to visit and they had packed up their things.

As the deadline came around a small procession of cars left the site, leaving the site empty except for their painted signs and flags.

The protest group, which said it represents the two Ngati Paoa families that occupied the land before it was acquired by the Crown in the 1840s, has been living at the college marae since mid-August, before the college closed officially on August 31.

The two families said they were "repossessing" the land because the church is no longer using it for the purposes for which Governor George Grey granted it in 1850.

Grey granted the land to the Catholic Church in 1850 "for the education of children of our subjects of both races and of children of other poor and destitute persons being the inhabitants of the islands in the Pacific Ocean."

A spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese said it was a good outcome and they hoped they could now get on with looking at other opportunities for the site with a number of educational offers already put forward.

Source

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Tauira Tawhito Steering Komiti, a group of former students, parents and a kaumatua, have been able to increase the roll from one to five.

They say they have received nearly 500 expressions of interest.

The commissioner, Lex Hammil, confirmed that the roll had increased to 5.

He said, however, "enrolment did not match attendance on the ground.

"We've had sporadic attendance by all students."

With Hato Petera in a state of flux, Hamill said the Tauira Tawhito Steering Komiti's "personal crusade" was harmful.

"I have faith in the process that is being initiated by the Minister of Education" he said.

The Tauira Tawhito Steering Komiti, however, feels it had been left out the decision-making process.

Former student and spokesperson for the group, Ratahi Tomuri said "We want to drive this.

"We've put together a marketing strategy and a plan to get the school out of debt, but we have no transparency about what's happening.

"We want to help, we're here to do the hard work. The school was once a thriving kura, and it still can be, but it needs the right people behind it."

Tomuri told Stuff in April that allowing only baptised Catholics to attend the school, and closing the school's boarding facilities, harmed the enrolment process.

But Hamill has pointed out that, because Hato Petera is a state integrated Catholic school, "We've got to get to a roll of 20 before we can take one non-Catholic."

A spokesperson from the Catholic Diocese of Auckland said the results of the consultation process, the submissions of which closed on May 14, were being considered by the Ministry of Education and Minister Chris Hipkins.

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• Only $1,600 of its $200,000 operations grant was being spent on delivering the curriculum.
• 81 percent of the operations grant is spent on non-teaching personnel.
• The three office personnel consume 53 percent of the operations grant.
• Last year the school had an $80,000 budget deficit, but with its falling roll numbers reducing state funding that had ballooned to $190,000.
• The school was facing a legal bill of $116,000, further details of which were redacted.

A separate briefing from the ministry noted that, in the past 20 years, there had been significant shifts and gains made in the schooling system that performs for and with Maori.

"There are now 278 schools and Kura that deliver in Maori medium, ranging from students being taught in Maori language to full immersion. This has had an impact on Maori boarding school rolls."

Dr Mere Skerrett of Victoria University's school of education said there was a range of reasons why the boarding schools had declined.

• Many rural Maori were choosing not to send their children away to boarding schools
• The church, which has played a significant role in many of the schools, had seen its influence weaken
• From about the 1950s, the schools had also changed their curriculum towards "manual trades for men and women as housewives" and they had been slow to adapt.

"A failure to catch up with the rest of society has probably contributed to their demise," Skerrett said.

However, 11 former students, parents and a kaumatua of the school say they are determined to keep the doors of Hato Petera open.

They have formed the Tauira Tawhito Steering Komiti and have held two hui this month to strategise increasing the college's roll.

"We're very clear about the direction we need to move forward," Phyllis Pomare, the mother of last remaining student Stephanie Pomare, said.

That direction involved reinstating the school's boarding facilities and moving away from allowing only baptised Catholics to attend the school.

Pomare, along with fellow committee member and spokesperson Ratahi Tomuri, said both changes had harmed the enrolment process.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins says consultation is now underway about the possible cancellation of the integration agreement of the college. The consultation process will run until 14 May.

Following the consultation process, the Ministry of Education will provide a summary of the feedback and a decision will be made about the cancellation of the school's integration agreement.

• Source
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The roll has declined from 210 in 1995 and the Education Review Office had expressed concerns about the school's performance.

Earlier this year, Lex Hamill was appointed as a commissioner to take over the governance of the college.

Hamill said there is an issue about how four teachers and a limited number of students can offer a balanced programme.

This year the school was set to receive $330,000 from the Ministry of Education's operational grant fund for a projected roll of 15 students.

However, Hamill said those funds would drop to around $200,000 with only one student currently at the school - although the salary of teachers did not come out of those funds.

Last Friday, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced the government and Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland had agreed to begin consultations about whether to cancel the school's integration agreement.

"With only one student currently in attendance, the Commissioner has raised concerns about the sustainability of the school.

He is supportive of the decision that the proprietor of Hato Petera College, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, and I have now taken to initiate the consultation process.

I acknowledge that this is an uncertain time for the student currently attending Hato Petera, her whanau and the community.

But the role of Maori boarding schools has changed over the years," Hipkins said.

"Despite the extensive work of the commissioner, previous boards of trustees, teaching staff and the community, concerns about the college's finances, human resourcing, curriculum and its low student numbers remain."

If the agreement is cancelled, the Diocese would be left to decide whether to close it or begin running it as a private school.

Source

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He asked if New Zealand should rather have a Maori care and protection system with some clip-ons for Pakeha.

Becroft is New Zealand's children's commissioner and a former principal Youth Court judge.

He was addressing at this year's Te Hunga Roia Maori o Aotearoa (New Zealand Maori Law Society) annual conference last Friday.

However, he is optimistic about the present generation, telling the law students and young lawyers, "you have been accorded a second chance that we blew." The new Oranga Tamariki Act, implemented in July, has an even stronger focus on whanau, hapu and iwi.

Another speaker, Judge Soana Moala, who was appointed to the bench a year ago, said even at the Manukau District Court - where many cases involved Maori and Pasifika - "section 27" reports were rare.

Section 27 of the Sentencing Act allows offenders to request the court to hear submissions on the personal, family, whanau, community, and cultural background of the offender.

"A lot of these older white male judges only see young brown faces in court, so they only see ones that are facing really serious charges," she said.

[They don't get] to see what I see all the time, which is young, talented, clever, amazing young brown faces."

Source

• Teuila Fuatai. Newsroom
• Teuila Fata. Newsroom
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Cadigan is the chair of Te Runanga o te Hahi Katorika ki Aotearoa (National Catholic Maori Council of New Zealand).

Te Runanga is an advisory council to the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference.

She said Maori now have many opportunities to engage with the Maori part of themselves, "I can start with kohanga and work all the way through", but the Hahi side has not kept pace with that.

Cadigan says it is a time for te iwi Maori within the whanau of Katorika to do something about it.

The church, she says, is going through a period of change, with Pope Francis attempting to move a lot of the decision- making away from the Vatican towards the people.

Te Iwi Maori Katorika held a hui at Whaiora Marae in Otara over the weekend.

The hui was facilitated by Cadigan, Danny Karatea Goddard (an advisor to the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference) and historian Peter Lineham from Massey University.

Source

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The occasion will begin with an opening ceremony on Friday at 3:00 pm.

On Saturday formalities highlighting the school's history will be presented, then followed by a celebration dinner.

There will be an exhibition of archival material and oral histories, and a presentation about the school book by historian Malcolm Mullholland.

Stephanie Tibble, a former student and event organiser, has been collecting interviews from kuia (older women) who were students, sisters and principals at the school.

"It's going to be great to catch up with people, but I think also it's significant in that St Joseph's is one of only two Maori girls' colleges that remain today," said Tibble.

Jubilee committee chairperson Julie Tangaere said the school was excited to host whanau during the weekend.

"It's really going to be a great event. St Joseph's has been home to many girls over the years. It will be great to get together and share memories and acknowledge the school."

St Joseph's Maori Girls' College (then named The Providence) was one of the first schools established by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in 1867.

The school was established in response to a request by Maori Missioner Father Euloge Reignier. His commitment to the education of young Maori was such that he is recorded as riding for days on horseback to pick up children to be educated at the Catholic school.

Former students of St Joseph's Maori Girls' College include famed Maori activist Dame Whina Cooper.

In 1995, the ownership of the school was handed over from the church to iwi Maori who established a trust board.

Two Sisters remain living on the school grounds to maintain the connection with the founding Order.

Source

• RNZ
• Maori Television
• Scoop
• Hawkes Bay Today
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The boarding facilities are to be vacated and possession of the property delivered to the Catholic Diocese of Auckland.

In July Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported that 30 tertiary students from the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) were using the hostel.

Counsel for the Diocese, Michael Robinson, said the occupants of the boarding facilities were there in an agreement with Hato Petera Limited, but will now have seven days to vacate the hostel.

Last year the hostel was closed; boarding is no longer offered at Hato Petera.

This year it has been operating as a day-school, with a small staff. Just 25 students enrolled to start 2017.

The Diocese gave the housing and family support provider De Paul House a two-year lease on the former hostel buildings, allowing it to house homeless at the hostel. The Diocese wanted AUT students removed.

This had angered some in the whanau whanui o Hato Petera, as RNZ previously reported.

An application for an interim injunction was filed in the High Court at Auckland by Hato Petera Limited to prevent the eviction.

Lyndsay Freer, a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Auckland, says the land on which Hato Petera is situated was gifted to the Diocese to be used for the education of children of all races, not as reported in the New Zealand Herald and RNZ, for the education of Maori children.

The New Zealand Herald also reported that "The school has had various names during its history, including St Mary's Industrial School for Maori Boys and St Peter's Maori College, before it changed its name to Hato Petera in 1972."

However, Freer says St Mary's Industrial School was not on the Hato Petera site but was located on land now occupied by St Joseph's School in Takapuna.

"This particular land was never part of the Crown gift but was privately bought," she said.

A further hearing has been scheduled later this year between the Catholic Diocese of Auckland and a third party.

Source

• New Zealand Herald
• RNZ
• Image: Maori Television

Hato Petera College stands on a portion of the of the Crown Grant of 376 acres given to the Catholic Church in Auckland's North Shore in 1850 for the purpose of supporting Maori education on the site.

A group of former pupils Nga Tauira Tawhito o Hato Petera lodged a claim with the the Waitangi Tribunal in 2014.

The claim concerns the land awarded by Crown Grant to the Catholic Church in 1850, and the subsequent maladministration of that land.

Lawyer Stuart Kett, of Tamaki Legal - which is representing claimant group - said since then, most of that land had been sold and the proceeds had not been fairly used to fund or support the school.

"The original reason for the grant was for the maintenance and support of Maori education on the Takapuna Crown grant lands," Mr Kett said.

"Those purposes, those duties, those obligations are for the church to provide that maintenance by way of the Crown grant lands."

Kett said it was not clear how the proceeds from the Grant land sales were spent, but it wasn't on Hato Petera.

"The diocese presumably is doing what it can, but unfortunately we haven't been able to access their financial records in terms of how they expended the proceeds of sale moneys in terms of benefiting Hato Petera.

"What we do know is Hato Petera is on a lot less land than it would have been had the original grant remained intact."

In the claimant group's final submissions Mr Kett asked that the Crown fund a new boarding facility and new buildings at the school.

The Catholic Church was contacted for comment but referred questions back to the school.

Source

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That is about half the number of students on its roll compared to last year.

Rudy Taylor, the chairman of the Hato Petera Whanau Trust, said, while that number is low, he thinks it can be built up.

The Ministry of Education's head of sector enablement and support, Katrina Casey, said last year the Catholic Diocese of Auckland told Hato Petera College the hostel facilities would be closed.

Without these facilities, the college now has to operate as a day school.

Earlier Hato Petera Principal John Matthews said "we had potentially 89 students [but] because of no accommodation and the latest barrier being no funding we've got 25 confirmed students returning and another dozen or so yet to confirm."

Casey said the Ministry of Education understands the board is working with families to arrange private accommodation for those who need it

Operational funding is based on a school's roll and the school type so there is limited funding available for the college, Casey said.

As a result, the college is facing operational challenges and the Ministry of Education is working to "determine the level of additional assistance it now needs to manage and respond to its challenges"

Taylor said, if the school, Ministry of Education and Catholic Diocese don't work together, there is a possibility the school could shut all together.

"There a risk in everything that something could happen. We can only do what's good for the people."

A spokesperson for the Catholic Church said the students' safety and care is priority and as well as being financially viable a boarding facility would "need to be properly administered and run by competent supervisors to provide a caring and truly Catholic environment".

Source

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The Bishop of Auckland, Patrick Dunn, said he was disappointed by Minister of Education's decision not to close the school.

The a co-educational Year 9-13 state integrated school is located in Northcote on Auckland's North Shore. On 1^st July 2016 the stood at of 49 students, with all of these students identifying as Maori. 90% of the students are boarders.

The hostel was closed in October after the Ministry of Education revoked the Hostel licence "out of concern about the ability of the hostel management and staff to provide a safe environment for boarders".

In July 2016 Bishop Dunn initiated an extensive consultation process on the long term viability of the College, with the possibility of closure.

This consultation process was undertaken by three independent education consultants and included six public hui and four stakeholder hui, along with a number of submissions by interested parties.

The consultation process focused on the following key concerns about the College's long term viability:

• the low roll
• the limited breadth of the curriculum being offered to students
• the College's financial position
• the College's breach of the Integration Agreement
• the breakdown of relationships between the Board of Trustees and the governing body responsible for the boarding hostel.

Bishop Dunn says: "After considering all of the information from the consultation process, my concerns remain."

"In particular, the Consultation Report questions the ability of the College to provide an education that best meets the needs of students, and the opportunities for them to excel to the best of their abilities in the rapidly changing education environment of the 21^st century."

"Having said this I will respect the decision of the Minister."

The Bishop, who is the proprietor of the school, will continue work with the Ministry of Education on the matter.

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Executive members of the registered society who were elected were:
Chairperson: Dr Sir Noble (Toby) Curtis.
Deputy-chairperson: Frank Solomon.
Secretary: Norman McKenzie.
Treasurer: Janice Smith.
Kaumatua and Kuia: Joseph Edwards and Naida Glavish
Rangatahi representative: Wiremu Smith.

Sir Toby commented: "We are grateful for the assistance we have received from the Catholic Bishop of Auckland and his diocesan officials, as well as from officials of the Ministry of Education in the establishment of this new governance structure for the non-integrated sections of Hato Petera Marae, and we hope that we can now work toward securing the future of this College which has served our people well since its foundation in 1928."

In response to this development the spokesperson for the Auckland diocese, Lyndsay Freer said "the diocese has undertaken wide consultation about the future of Hato Petera College in recent weeks."

"This process is still ongoing, and until it is completed it is not appropriate for us to make further comment."

Relationship between the Society and Hato Petera Limited

The rules for the Hato Petera Society Incorporated state that membership shall be drawn from Te Whanau o Hato Petera.

The main criteria for membership are the principles of Catholic and Maori education. All members are required to complete the membership form and pay the annual fee of $50.00.

Under the new structure, the incorporated society is the holder of the single share in charitable company called Hato Petera Limited.

The company holds the licence to operate the school's hostels.

Both the society and the company are registered under the relevant legislation.

The income and property of the company can be used only for the activities of the company or by a way of dividend gift or such other means as the board may consider appropriate to Hato Petera Society Incorporated for the charitable apostolic and religious activities of the incorporated society within New Zealand.

The Hato Petera Society Incorporated executive is empowered to appoint up to 4 directors of the company. The appointment is for a fixed term of three years.

The Incorporated Society also appoints the chair and the deputy chair of the company's board.

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He was speaking after the first of five consultation hui arranged to discuss the future of the College.

Read more on Auckland Diocese website

The school's roll stands at 49. Last year 85 enrolled were enrolled. The roll stood at 148 in 2009.

Only 16 students meet the special character of the school - far fewer than the required 95 percent The school's integration agreement requires.

But Matthews wonders about the motivation behind the consultation.

"To suggest the possibility of shutting the doors is just scaremongering and you have to wonder as to the true motivation behind the consultation process."

"Why is this consultation taking place now? And why is it necessary to move so quickly?"

Chairman of the school's board Mate Webb said closure of the only Catholic Maori co-ed school in the country was unacceptable.

"Parents may fear closure is imminent but perhaps the bishop has jumped the gun."

The meeting took place in Takapuna on Thursday. It was was which was closed to media.

About 20 people attended the meeting with three independent consultants hired by the diocese.

Those in attendance included families of students and both current and former staff, some of whom had left their jobs due to a perceived "unravelling" of the school in the past years.

A second meeting took place on Saturday in Kaikohe and the third on Sunday in Panguru.

There has of now been no reports about these meetings

Another meeting is planned for Sunday 14 August at Te Kamaka Marae, Hato Petera College.

The final meeting will be on Sunday 28 August 2.00-4.00pm at Te Unga Waka Marae in Epsom.

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The Bishop said one of the options to be considered is the possible closure of the school.

However he gave an assurance that the school will stay open for the rest of the year.

Furthermore any decision on the school's future will be made in time for families to plan for 2017.

Dunn said The Ministry of Education has approved the launch of the consultation process.

Interested individuals and groups are encouraged to become involved in the process and have until Wednesday 7 September to provide written submissions.

More information is available on the Auckland Catholic Diocese's website

Hato Petera College is a co-educational Year 9-13 state integrated school located in Northcote on Auckland's North Shore.

The 1 July roll was 49 students, with all of these students identifying as Maori.

Dunn says he has concerns about the low number of students enrolled, the impact the low roll has on the breadth of curriculum that can be offered.

Other concerns included school finances and breaches of an integration agreement.

There has also been breakdown in the relationship between the Board of Trustees and Hato Petera Ltd (previously Te Whanau o Hato Petera Trust Board) which impacts on the governance of the school.

"I know this will cause some uncertainty for families with sons and daughters attending Hato Petera.

"I also recognise that Hato Petera College has a proud history...however, on balance, I believe the time is right to make informed decisions on the future of the school."

Dunn noted that the consultation is about the school itself, not the hostel or the school site as any decisions about these aspects would be made once the school's future has been decided.

"However, to allay any concerns I can confirm that if at the end of the process the school did close, the site will not be sold and should be used for education purposes."

Hato Petera is Auckland's last Maori boarding school. Two other Auckland Maori boarding schools, St Stephen's and Queen Victoria, were closed in the early 2000s.

Source

• hatopetera.aucklandcatholic.org.nz
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Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox says she wishes more of her political colleagues understood te reo Maori so they could appreciate the korero coming from the stage about issues affecting their whanau, like homelessness and poverty. Continue reading

A new governing body now has been formed to operate the hostels.

A Ministry of Education spokeswoman says any new entity formed to operate the hostels will now need to apply for a licence to do so.

Te Whanau o Hato Petera Trust ceased to operate on April 29.

Rudy Taylor, who was the Trust's deputy chairman, says they have set up an incorporated society to replace the trust board.

He said the society has been approved but is yet to be named and finalised.

Despite the fact that the Catholic Diocese of Auckland last year announced the closure of the College's boarding facilities, the Trust had managed to keep the school operating.

The diocese said the trust deed had been continually breached over its term, which was why it had not renewed the lease for a further 20 years, but offered only a five-year rolling lease arrangement in 2014.

In January whanau, former students and members of the local community helped to renovate the hostel buildings at the College.

In February operation and boarding warrant of fitness licences for five of Hato Petera's hostels were approved and signed off by the Ministry of Education.

At that time there were about 42 students enrolled.

Taylor said that under the Trust, the Catholic diocese of Auckland had financial responsibility.

This responsibility will now fall on the incorporated society.

He says the society will "make sure we can operate and run a better ship" for the college on Auckland's North Shore.

He hopes the restructure will also encourage a rising roll.

Source

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There are six remaining Maori boarding schools, including three owned by the Catholic Church: Hato Paora in Feilding, Hato Petera in Auckland and St Joseph's in Napier.

"If they really want those schools to flourish they've got to kick in with some financial contribution, can't leave it to the state because the state is actually providing the resource to allow the teaching of education to happen," Flavell says.

"The boarding element has always been at the heart of all the issues and that's their downfall."

"They have not supported and fulfilled their obligation to those schools by not upgrading the facilities that are sorely needed and created a good, positive working environment with the board of trustees," Flavell said.

Flavell said, if the churches wanted the schools to flourish, they had to make more of a financial contribution - and the best case scenario was that the churches would get far more heavily involved.

"[To] ensure their commitment to [the] ongoing education of Maori people that they've had the privilege of having under their auspices for the last 100-plus years."

"Those schools have huge history and the church[es] set them up for a particular purpose."

"Flavell said he had spoken to church representatives in the past about all of the Maori boarding schools, and they were aware of the issues."

"That's a discussion they're having internally and I understand there's even internal conflict - if you want to put it that way - between those who are actually clergy and the church in the wider sense about their contributions to Maori education."

A Maori Boarding Schools Summit hosted by the board of proprietors of Turakina Maori Girls' College will take place on 5 and 6 November in Wellington to discuss the contribution of the kura to nation-building.

Flavell was speaking after it was announced that an interim decision has been made to close Marton's Turakina Maori Girls boarding school at the end of this year.

Education Minister Hekia Parata said the issues facing Turakina were not new, and other Maori faith-based boarding schools have faced the same challenges as Turakina has.

Parata says the issues are, "costs of maintaining the premises, the attracting of a viable roll so that a wide and rich curriculum can be offered to the students."

She says, "The Maori boarding schools model is all under the State Integrated Act, so these are faith-based schools, which means that the churches are the owners of the boarding schools and therefore have the responsibilities of maintaining them, and they face challenges as well, so in that sense they're no-one's fault."

"I guess I'm saying, it is 2015, there are more choices available to parents and they are making those choices."

Source

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• radionz.co.nz
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