Pay equity for kaiārahi i te reo celebrated

Recognising te reo and tikanga Māori in schools starts with pay equity, says the Green Party.

Announced yesterday, the proposed pay equity settlement would see a kaiārahi i te reo who is currently earning $23.03 per hour rise to $41.31 per hour.

“Māori leaders have pushed for generations to create our own education spaces and have often had to do that out of their own time and money,” says Teanau Tuiono, Green spokesperson for education.

“Kaiārahi i te reo hold in-depth knowledge of te reo and tikanga Māori. An NZEI investigation recently found these values, expertise and skills have been historically undervalued because kaiārahi i te reo are mostly wāhine Māori.

“This is a legacy of Māori having to take matters into their own hands, without recognition, and often through unpaid labour.

“This offer is life-changing; mō ngā kaiārahi, mō ngā mokopuna, mō te reo.

“We want to see pay increases across the education sector that recognise the incredibly scarce expertise of our Māori speaking teachers particularly for our teachers in kura kaupapa, kura-a-iwi and kōhanga reo as well.

“With a strong Green Party voice in Parliament, we would increase funding for kura kaupapa, kohanga reo, and mainstream te reo immersion and bilingual classrooms, including funding for professional support of Māori medium teachers and teacher scholarships.

“Because we know from our experiences at the moment that when Māori are able to shape our education spaces, and are recognised and paid properly to do so, our Māori communities are able to thrive.

“We need to acknowledge all our teachers who are crucial to the revival and preservation of te reo and tikanga Māori, and that starts with acknowledging and ensuring they are being paid well,” says Teanau Tuiono.

ENDS

Volunteer

The Greens are proud to be driven by passionate people like you. Today we need your help to take action on the biggest issues facing New Zealand.

Action

Save Auckland's Climate Budget

Sign the petition to stop Mayor Wayne Brown's proposal for dangerous cuts to climate and environmental programmes that protect us from extreme weat...

Action

No New Mines 2023

Action

Expand Voting

Now more than ever, young people in Aotearoa are impacted by Government decisions, and they deserve to have a say. We are calling on all Members of...

Action

End Intensive Winter Grazing

Sign the petition to Labour Ministers, to move faster in bringing regulations into force and end intensive winter grazing.

Action

Trains for Climate

Add your name to our open letter urging the Minister for Finance Grant Robertson to save our passenger trains between Wellington, the Wairarapa and...

Action

Healthy Oceans 2022

Join our Healthy Oceans Crew to help us keep the health and protection of our oceans high on the Labour Government’s political agenda.

Action

It's time: A Ministry for Rainbow Communities

Join our call asking the Prime Minister to establish a Ministry for Rainbow Communities that can champion Rainbow issues.

Action

No new mines on conservation land

Sign the open letter asking Labour Ministers to stick to their promise of banning new mining projects on conservation land.

Action

Allow community ownership of our buses

Public transport is an essential service and helps to tackle the climate crisis by reducing our carbon emissions. But there are barriers to communi...

Action

Local Events

We have activists across Aotearoa / New Zealand who are working hard to build a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. This page lists upcomin...

Latest Education Announcements

Story

Greens back striking secondary teachers

The Green Party backs secondary teachers resuming strike action.

ECE extension Green win nearly 10 years in the making

The Green Party is today celebrating Budget 2023 funding extending free ECE to two year olds.

Continued strikes show need for bold action

The Green Party backs the demands of thousands of secondary and area school teachers striking today.

National’s education policy gets an F

The Green Party has marked the National Party’s new education policy and given it a fail, especially for its failure to address the underlying driv...

Greens back teachers’ demands

The Green Party backs the demands of the teachers’ strikers.

Greens back teachers’ strike

The Green Party stands with teachers in their request for fair pay and decision to strike.

Story

Greens welcome much needed investment but Labour can go further for Te Ao Māori & Pasifika in the Budget

Today the Green Party’s Te Mātāwaka (Māori and Pasifika) caucus supported the 2023 Budget, but there’s still room for improvement.

Greens call on the government to end perpetual leases

The Green Party calls on the Government to end perpetual leases over Māori land so that Māori landowners can directly control their lands.

Greens support Operation Pātiki restoring name for awa

The Green Party is proud to support Kohupātiki Marae to uphold the mana of their awa.

Greens welcome step forward for Waimana whānau

The Government has finally agreed to meet with the whānau of Te Waimana Kaaku, a step the Green Party says must lead to warm, dry, secure homes bei...

Crown closes the door for Waimana Housing programme

The Green Party is calling out the Government for its role in Te Waimana Kaaku whānau losing their deposits and the homes they were promised.

Budget 2022: Greens celebrate landmark investment in climate action

Landmark week for climate action concludes with climate budget Largest ever investment in climate action one of many Green Party wins throughout B...