The government has committed to a long-term plan that will see brand new schools and classrooms built to meet the demand for around 100,000 extra student places for children entering schools over the next 10 years.
Three Māori schools will benefit from government budget announcements made today.
Associate Minister of Education (Māori Education) Kelvin Davis says, “Now, there are a great number of students in the same classrooms, that's not nice for learning time. So they get more space and teachers have more room to teach these children.”
Eight new classrooms will be built at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Maungarongo in Auckland.
“If they receive new learning spaces, they know the Ministry of Education and the government is listening to their needs for classrooms, so that the young ones in those learning spaces can work well,” says Davis.
Of the $1.2 billion of funding for school property in Budget 2019, the investments announced today represent about $200 million of that funding.
Davis says, “For now, these announcements are for Auckland and Taitokerau, but we know there is a growing number of children pursuing education through Māori language, so the Ministry of Education will reveal the wider strategy for other areas of the country in due course.”
Around $20m is allocated for 27 roll-growth classrooms in nine schools across Tai Tokerau, creating more than 500 additional student places.
“Two Māori schools in Taitokerau, there will be two classrooms for Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Pukemiro and one for Te Kura o Waikare. This is a positive sign because there are more children in Māori medium education,” says Davis.
Funding for other regions will be announced in the coming months.