E harikoa katoa ana te whānau whānui o Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Mokopuna i Te Ūpoko o te Ika i te whakaaetanga a Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga kia hanga whare hōu ki te kura, e pai ake ai te ako a ngā tamariki.
“Tatari roa ana tātou katoa kia rongo ki te Minita o te tari mātauranga, ana, kua pai ināianei. Kua tīmata i roto i te whakatū(ria) i ngā whare, te kura hōu, i te ono marama,” te kī a Parehuia Tutua-Nathan, tētahi o ngā whaea o te kura.
Ko te tumuaki o te kura, ko Rawiri Wright e mauritau ana i te ekenga panuku o Tangaroa Piri Whare.
“Kua rongo kōhimuhimu i te aka kūmara, heoi anō ko te rā tuatahi tēnei kua tae ōkawa mai te Minita, otirā tōna tino āpiha whare Kura Kaupapa Māori ki te whakatakoto i te kōrero.”
Ko te minita take mātauranga, ko Erica Standford rātou ko tōna tira nō Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga i toro atu ki te kura i tēnei ata ki te whakamārama atu i te ara whakamua.
Hei tā Stanford, kei te maro tonu te tautoko a te kāwanatanga ki ngā kura kaupapa.
“We’ve continued to ensure that we’ve ringfenced funding for Kura Kaupapa, understanding the pretty dilapidated state of many the buildings around the country, and it’s nice to get underway with some of these projects now.”
Ko Ngā Mokopuna tētahi o ngā kura maha o te motu i tūpono raru ai i ngā mahi penapena pūtea a te kāwanatanga. Ko te mahere taketake ake, ko te hanga whare kaitā kotahi hei ruruhau i te kura katoa. I matapaetia ka $47m te nui o te utu e tutuki ai i taua hiahia.
Heoi, nā ētahi panonitanga ki te mahere, i heke taua nama ki te $31 miriona.
“The proposal is to build three new buildings here, take away most of the dilapidated rundown facilites, delivered in three stages,” te kī a Maxim Wehi, Kaitohu Rautaki Rawa Māori i te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga.
“At the budget, the money inside KKM property remained and we’ve committed $25 milion at this point to the project to fund the rest in future bids.
E matapae ana a Wehi ka rua tau pea te roa o ngā mahi whakatū whare, ā, kei te ngākau titikaha ia ka riro i Te Tāhuhu te toenga o te pūtea hei te tāhua a te kāwanatanga ā te tau 2025.
Ahakoa ka kore pea e kite i te katoa o ngā wawata i pīrangitia, kei te hari tonu te hapori o te kura ka whakahoutia tonutia ngā whare kua roa e karukaru haere nei.
Ko Te Ao Rangi Tawhara tētahi o ngā tauira i te wāhanga wharekura, ā, ka mutu ana ia i te kura hei te otinga o ngā mahi, heoi kei te manawarū tonu ia.
“Mō te minita ki te kī atu ki a mātou koinei te wā kia whakaae, kua tae atu, kua whai te moni ki te tīmata ki te hanga i te kura hōu, he tino harikoa mātou katoa.”
Kei te titiro hoki a Eugene Ryder, he pāpā o te kura, ki te painga o tēnei whakatau a te kāwanatanga haumi.
“I roto i ēnei wā e noho mokopuna ana ētahi o Ngāi Māori e pā ana ki tēnei kāwana hōu, engari tēnei tētahi mea pai, mea ora mō a tātou nei whānau.”
Ko te kōrero whakamutunga ka waiho ki a Wehi me tāna whakamiha ki te whānau o Ngā Mokopuna kua ūpoko pakaru rātou i tā rātou tono kia whai akomanga hōu.
“I’d like to acknowledge the amount of time it’s taken and the toll it has taken on the kura and the whānau.
“Yeah, we’ve got to get in and build the kura. These children are important, they are the future of te ao Māori and the Ministry is committed to enabling property that allows them to be Māori.”
