Sharples Pita: Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Sharples Pita: Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:651;Page:573] 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker tena tatau e huihui mai nei i te ahiahi po ki konei i tenei wa. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Deputy Speaker and to us gathered here this evening at this time 
.]  
I echo the Maori Party’s support for the Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill. Given that I have spent my whole life in the education system and watched the mainstream schools destroy the hope of many of my people for their children it is pretty hard to listen to some of the talk that is coming back from members on the other side of the House. I tell Mr Mallard that during his watch Maori children were not in forms 3A 4A 4B and 4C but were in forms 4M 4N 4O and 4P. Nothing has changed except that there are now different names for it. One in four Maori come out of school with little or no qualifications at all. This is real; this is life. These are my people whom I live with. 
Sue Moroney 
: There’s been a significant change in that and you should acknowledge that. 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES 
: The member can say whatever she likes about that but this is the reality. That is why half of the Maori boys come out of school with a lack of incentive to take hold of the world and with little qualifications at all. 
The reason for that has been exposed by Te Kotahitanga which shows that teachers are aiming too low for Maori children. That is why we should put the standards up there and teach the standards and if the children do not reach those standards we should fix the teachers up. Quite honestly— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: No no that’s not what Te Kotahitanga is. 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES 
: Is that right? I tell Mr Mallard that in 1960 the Hunn report exposed a big gap between Maori and Pakeha achievement in schools. In 1970 we tried to introduce a programme called Taha Maori. That did not work because it was not owned by the people and it was not geared towards achieving within the school system. 
In the 1980s came kaupapa Maori education. Kaupapa Maori education showed a new way of teaching. It was user-friendly to Maori because it used Maori cultural customs—daily natural Maori customs—and it also used the Maori language. Unfortunately successive Governments have not supported it to the extent that they should have done in terms of the training of teachers. No matter how many submissions we made to various education ministry officials teachers were not trained in speaking Maori and in kaupapa Maori in order to carry on that kaupapa. Sufficient training was not given to parents. Half of the kura kaupapa Maori are struggling today and need support for the parents who run the boards and also for recruiting teachers who know what they are doing to work in kaupapa Maori. 
In the early 2000s two major reports were produced—and I think one was produced while Mr Mallard was the Minister—one from the Ministry of Education and one from Te Puni Kokiri. Both reports showed that the gaps that existed in 1960 were still there in the early 2000s. We had babysat Maori in education for 40 years and there was still no closing of the gaps. Then we had a programme called closing the gaps and suddenly that programme disappeared. 
We want to have the standards set so that Maori can be taught like every other child to reach those standards. If they are not achieving them then we should ask why and we should do something about it. That is why we support this bill. Let us not carry on hiding things. Let us not teach Maori children and ignore their names. The issue is about knowing their names and it is about respecting the words “tangata whenua”. [ 
Interruption 
] No matter how much the member yells he could not change the negative results while he was the Minister. He should not try to get out of that; he has to know that. It is now time that we moved. We need to take hold of kaupapa Maori and give it the lift that it needs. It is time that we looked at how teachers are teaching Maori and did something about it in Te Kotahitanga. We should front up—that is what the issue is all about. 
We support the implementation of these standards. We support teachers being trained to teach them and if they do not get it— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: The member supported second-class teachers. 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES 
: We support success and we support teaching people: recognising Maori as pupils and not teaching down to them. The programmes showed that people were not even calling Maori students by their real names. Students were getting upset because teachers were sitting on tables breaking Maori customs and rules. Teachers did not even know the names of students’ parents. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: And which Minister funded it more and more because it was good? 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES 
: I am trying to explain to the House why the Te Kotahitanga programme is successful. 
Sue Moroney 
: Who started it? 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES 
: That is the whole point is it not? It is Russell Bishop’s programme and we all support that programme. But we should listen to what it tells us. That is what I am trying to say. We should listen to it and have our teachers trained to teach up to Maori not teach down to them. Then it will be a success.