24 Jul 2012

Support for Nelson kura acknowledged

6:30 am on 24 July 2012

A kura kaupapa principal says her school owes the wider Nelson community some acknowledgement for supporting the establishment of the region's first Maori language immersion school.

Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Tuia Te Matangi in Richmond has been built after a 30 year fight to get the school underway.

Merita Waitoa-Paki says in te reo she is pleased her kura had the support of Pakeha people who were convinced of the benefits her school has to offer.

Hei tāna, ki ngā pakeke katoa o taua rohe me ngā mātāwaka i tautoko mai i te kaupapa, tae atu ki ngā hāpori whānui o Whakatū - tino kaha rātou ki te tautoko mai i te tono; i tuku mai ngā reta tautoko mai i ngā kura auraki, nga tumuaki tauiwi - i haramai rātou ki te tautoko i te kaupapa.

She says all parents, including those who affiliate to iwi outside the region, have been supportive.

She says the wider community of Nelson endorsed the proposal, with letters sent from principals of mainstream schools who attended the opening of the kura.

And a Tuhoe kaumatua based in Nelson is praising the younger generation for backing the kura at Richmond, the first total immersion Māori language school of its kind for Te Tauihu or the top of the South Island.

Tahi Takao says in te reo that although the seed was sown three decades ago, it has been the young adults who have been the driving force over the last 15 years.

Hei tāna, ko te aroha hoki ki te hunga, ngā pākeke o tēnei rohe, kāore hoki e tino matatau ki te reo - ehara nō rātou te hē.

Ēngari ko ngā whakatipuranga ō muri mai kua tino pakari ki te whai i te reo me ōna tikanga i kōnei i Whakatū, i Motueka.

Nō reira, he tino pai ki ahau te mōhio kei te whai rātou i tō tātou reo rangatira.