PPTA calls for end to academic streaming
The leaders of the secondary teachers' union, the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA), want schools to stop grouping students in low and high ability classes by 2030. They told the union's conference in Wellington this week the practice was racist and recommended delegates agree to lobby to end it.A paper presented to the conference said the proposal was likely to provoke debate, but streaming was harmful, especially for Māori students. "Research shows that streaming creates and exacerbate...
October 8, 2022One in six face persistent social disadvantage -
Many New Zealanders are not thriving, according to new work by the Productivity Commission. The commission has released its interim report "A fair chance for all", looking into persistent disadvantage in New Zealand, and how it can be addressed. The inquiry worked to understand what is creating the inequities in people's lives and why certain groups are more vulnerable to disadvantage in New Zealand. Commission chairperson Dr Ganesh Nana said "persistent disadvantage is not just about being inco...
October 8, 2022A legal system that honours te ao Māori
At his law school graduation, Herewini Ammunson spoke of his connection with te reo Māori, the revolutionary impact of the late Moana Jackson and the bicultural future of the legal profession in Aotearoa. Here is that speech. The below has been amended for clarity. We have a Māori saying, “E kore te ako e mutu” – learning never stops. Justice Sir Joe Williams tells us that the law is a code. We now know how to read, interpret and apply this code in the “real world”. Parts of the code...
October 8, 2022Web series aims to encourage Māori and Pasifika
Hera Eruera isn’t met with a lot of support when she tells people she’s training to be a tradie. "Honestly I had a lot of people, even my own whānau and friends, telling me, ‘Bro that's a dumb career, why would you want to do plumbing? That’s a stink job,’” she said. "I actually didn't have any support towards me jumping into this." But the 26-year-old apprentice plumber, who features in the new web series Wāhine on the Tools, doesn't want other Māori and Pasifika women to be...
October 8, 2022Eating disorders:
Warning: This story discusses eating disorders and disordered eating. The number of Kiwis suffering from eating disorders has skyrocketed over the last five years. Figures obtained by Checkpoint show hospital admissions due to an eating disorder has increased by 75 percent since 2017. With eating disorders recording some of the highest mortality rates of all mental illnesses, advocates are calling for urgent support and a full review of services.Link to article: Eating disorders: ...
October 8, 2022Pukekohe fights:
AKiwi rugby league great has questioned New Zealand's human decency after two videos emerge of young girls being viciously beaten in Pukekohe. The first video was filmed on King St in Pukekohe while the second video was taken outside Pukekohe North Primary School. Police say the two incidents are linked and they are investigating. In the video filmed on King St, a group of three young girls can be seen pinned up against the wall with three attackers - who are also young girls - s...
October 5, 2022Emergency housing:
Documents released to RNZ have shown the government was warned emergency housing law changes put human rights in jeopardy - even by the Ministry of Health. And officials deliberately stopped Ministry of Social Development (MSD) clients' rights becoming "common knowledge" - fearing the motels would stop taking in homeless. The Human Rights Commission says there have "potentially" been rights breaches in the emergency and transitional housing system - it has been speaking with more than 30 parties...
October 5, 2022'Litany of failures':
An investigation into Oranga Tamariki's handling of the case of 5-year-old Malachi Subecz in Tauranga, who was murdered by his caregiver, has found the agency failed to take the "bare minimum" action over fears for the child's safety.The report into Oranga Tamariki's handling of the case was released on Wednesday by Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier. It found the children's agency's response was "a litany of failures" and did not prioritise Malachi's welfare.Malachi died in Auckland's Starship Hospi...
October 5, 2022Man charged after vandalism
A man has been arrested and charged after a large Māori carving welcoming visitors into Kaitaia was vandalised last Friday. The head of one pillar of Kaitaia's only carved Pouwhenua was cut off, and an attempt was made to saw through another piece. A 61-year-old local man was arrested today after police were tipped off following the release of CCTV footage yesterday. He will appear in the Kaitaia District Court tomorrow charged with intentional damage.Link to article: Man charged after...
October 5, 2022Fury under fire:
A documentary on those spreading harmful disinformation in New Zealand drew outrage from its targets. However, in our search for balance, writes senior journalism lecturer Dr Greg Treadwell, there is a duty to not empower the lies and propaganda. It feels as though the ice might be cracking under our democracy. Disinformation, mistrust, division, radicalisation, even the impacts of war – the pathway ahead seems treacherous underfoot. The ice might be thought of as our ability to remain a cohes...
October 5, 2022Kaitaia's only carved Pouwhenua
Vandals have struck Kaitaia's only carved Pouwhenua, cutting off the head of one pillar and attempting to saw through another piece. Benjai Gregory, the man who helped carve it, has been left distraught by the damage. "I was angry, I was down in Auckland at the time, and I was really angry, I was so upset, in the end I felt hurt and broken," Gregory said. The pou was part of a $7 million project to beautify Kaitaia funded by the provincial growth fund, but not everyone was on board with it.L...
October 5, 2022Auckland principals warn spike in students leaving early
Schools have closed for the holidays and some Auckland principals are wondering how many students will return when they reopen for the fourth term. They say more teens are leaving school early, continuing a spike that started last year.They are worried many are taking low-paid jobs that won't take them anywhere in the long-term. Ōtāhuhu College principal Neil Watson said he noticed a big increase in students leaving school before the year was over especially among Year 13s. "We've probably los...
October 5, 2022'Not okay':
A new Bill set to go before Parliament is causing concern amongst practitioners of traditional Māori medicine.The Therapeutic Products Bill will regulate how pharmaceutical and natural health products are manufactured, tested, imported, promoted, supplied, and exported. "Straight away it tells me that directly they will actually try and stop me from doing what I'm doing naturally in my home for my whānau," Awhitia Mihaere said.Mihaere has been practising rongoā for more than 20 years. It's a ...
October 4, 2022NZ Post moves to fix system
New Zealand Post has moved quickly to fix an IT problem that failed to recognise Māori macrons in names and place names. Māori business owner Kristy Bedi highlighted the issue after NZ Post's system failure to recognise some Māori words that include tohutō (macrons). Bedi, (Ngai Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Pākehā) said the NZ Post system was "not good enough". In her line of work she needed the correct addresses and place names, to send her taonga to her customers.Link to article: NZ Post move...
October 4, 2022'Fundamentally flawed': School assessment means disabled people
A Whangārei whānau are stuck without adequate support for their adult disabled daughter to participate in the community and reach her full potential. Due to a lack of funding, Sarah, whose name has been changed to protect her family’s privacy, can’t join her friends for activities and outings she would normally enjoy through a local day programme. She can attend for only half a day, then returns home to no activities or stimulation. She is now 30 years old, and government agencies continue...
October 3, 2022Māori and Moriori remains
The remains of more than 60 Māori and Moriori have finally returned home, after more than 70 years of appeals and negotiations. Many of the kōiwi had been stolen by a notorious Austrian grave robber in the late 1800s, and held for more than a century at the Natural History Museum in the Austrian capital, Vienna.But at Te Papa in Wellington on Sunday morning, they were finally returned in a ceremony at the museum's marae. The sound of the karanga and putatara carried across the mist-cloaked har...
October 2, 2022Dark day in history put right
"It's a great day because our ancestors are home," said Dr Arapata Hakiwai, Māori co-leader at Te Papa Museum, after a repatriation powhiri for the return of Maori and Moriori ancestral remains in Wellington this morning. Dr Hakiwai described the removal of approximately 64 individuals, most taken by Austrian taxidermist and notorious grave-robber Andreas Reischek as "a dark chapter in our history.""It's a dark past because, we know there were a lot of people – Reischek is just one of them ...
October 2, 2022‘Stealing’ - Iwi leader slams
A Whanganui iwi leader says a plan to extract and sell 750,000 litres a week of groundwater from a bore near the Whanganui River is stealing and confiscation. Consent was granted to Aquifer 182 Holding Company Ltd to take 37 million litres a year from an existing capped artesian bore on land the company owns at 182 Anzac Parade. Anzac Parade runs along the river’s east bank. The company plans to bottle or make ice from the groundwater and sell it, including to India and North America.Link to...
October 2, 2022Māori place names to stay
Te reo Māori names are to have a permanent home on MetService's website. The nation's weather authority paid tribute to Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori language week) last month. Users on MetService's main page will come across a map of New Zealand with English place names displayed. As they hover their cursor over a specific area, a te reo Māori name appears.Link to article: Māori place names to stay on MetService website - NZ Herald...
October 2, 2022Police warn of rise in 'sextortion' cases
Police are warning of increasing incidents of extortion where young people are targeted on social media by overseas offenders. Known as sextortion, it is when someone threatens to distribute private and sensitive material if a ransom is not paid. Detective Senior Sergeant Jodie Lyons said offenders target young victims by tricking them into sending sexually explicit content. "This is a global issue where offshore offenders target young victims by tricking them into sending sexually explicit cont...
October 2, 2022Tauranga maunga officially recognised
A hill near Tauranga popularly known as Mt Misery has had its Māori name, Maungatūtū, officially recognised. After public consultation the New Zealand Geographic board put its recommendation to Land Information Minister Damien O'Connor, and he agreed with it. "I'm pleased that we have this opportunity to restore the original Māori name for the maunga," O'Connor said. The name Mount Misery has never been an official one but it is believed to have come into local use around a century ago, as l...
October 2, 2022Māori and Moriori ancestorial remains
After almost 80 years of negotiations with Austria, more than 60 Māori and Moriori ancestral remains will return to Aotearoa. The remains of around 64 individuals will be repatriated from Vienna's Natural History Museum which is the largest repatriation from Austria. Records show 49 of these ancestors were collected by Austrian taxidermist and notorious grave-robber Andreas Reischek who spent 12 years in New Zealand from 1877 to 1889. A delegation from Aotearoa will attend a formal handover cer...
October 2, 2022Social supermarket opens in Whangārei
Northland's second supermarket without price tags will give struggling families a choice of kai free of charge. The new social supermarket on Woods Rd, Whangārei, opened yesterday and aims to bring the dignity of choice and independence to accessing free food. "They lead their whānau, they know what their whānau need in their household," 155 Whare Āwhina food coordinator Samantha Cassidy said. Whare Kai is a partnership between support service 155 Whare Āwhina and supermarket chain Foodstuf...
October 2, 2022Microsoft on a mission to spread the word
Global tech giants Microsoft's motto is to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more. That's why Microsoft NZ has joined with a local New Zealand te reo translation company to improve translation services of te reo Māori. Microsoft New Zealand's managing director Vanessa Sorenson told the Herald this was a "show of our commitment to te reo Māori" and felt it was a real "win-win" for the people of Aotearoa.Link to article: Microsoft on a mission to...
October 2, 2022More than two years of disrupted learning taking a toll
Secondary school principals are warning that this year might be shaping up to be the worst of the pandemic.Principals spoken to by RNZ said two-and-a-half years of Covid-19 disruption had left many young people short of the motivation and credits they needed to get their NCEA qualifications.Their warning came just weeks after the government announced a $20 million package to provide extra teaching and tutoring.Qualifications Authority (NZQA) figures showed by 20 September schools had r...
September 28, 2022 Posts 3101-3125 of 4366 | Page prev next
