This article was first published on RNZ.
The Cook Islands community celebrated the launch of the first full immersion Te Reo Māori Kuki Airani primary school in Rarotonga.
Te Papa Apii Rutaki (new name of the school) is now teaching entirely in Cook Islands Māori, in a stand to ensure the language lives on.
The primary school caters for up to 150 students from Early Childhood Education (ECE) to grade six.
Renall Vogel, the school’s principal, said shifting to become a full immersion school addresses the lack of Māori speakers in younger generations.
Vogel said this has been a long time coming, as the community has been calling for such education services for years.
“The purpose of the total immersion approach is to revitalize and to retain our reo and we know that not many of the young children are conveying in Cook Islands Maori.
“I think it’s important that we’re serious about actually teaching our children our reo.”
Vogel said they are teaching more than just language.
Cultural history, customs and practises are a part of their curriculum.
“The most important thing is teaching our kids their identity, who they are, where they come from.
“This is where we want to go out in the lagoon, on land, learning about this environment, the mataiapo, the ariki around this area, and the story of this place.”
The school intends to facilitate more hands-on outdoor learning to encourage students to get more involved.
Ministry of Culture secretary Emile Kairua agrees with this way of learning.
Kairua said “although language is a big component ... it is only one aspect of Cook Islands culture”.
“An all inclusive approach to not just learning the language or relearning the language, but it’s also appreciating what makes us Māori ... what makes us an indigenous person of this place we call home, all inclusive approach is probably where it needs to be.
“You need to know koai to’ou maunga, you know, where do you come from? Who’s your who’s your ariki, their matakeinanga and everything like that. So that is the extension to an education system that I think is going to be extremely exciting.”
Kairua said this is a far cry from the education system his parents went through.
In the 60s, speaking Cook Islands Māori in school was a punishable act.
Researchers have said this led to a generation of Cook Islanders reluctant to teach their children Māori, causing a domino effect in the decline of fluent speakers.
“Speaking to our parents, they often told us how they were severely reprimanded for speaking in Māori back in their days at school. Now we’ve got an opportunity to reverse, not just an attitude, but also that the approach to language preservation.”
Kairua said the full immersion school will help prevent Cook Islands Māori from becoming an extinct language.
“Cook Islands Māori is on the on the trajectory to becoming an extinct language.
“If we’re not careful, it’s not quite at dire straits right now, but if we’re not careful, if we’re not taking stock of where we are, it’s going to be a dying language.
“My generation and your generation is going to be the last of those that speak Māori.”
Mahai Daniel, a grandparent who attended Apii Rutaki (original name of the school) as a child, and so did his own children, agrees.
Now his grandchildren are attending the school and he is proud they have the opportunity to be immersed in their language and culture.
“I have grandchildren enrolled and I want to see them learn about the history of Rutaki and the traditional practises we do here, as well as learning their language,” Daniel Said.
“This is important because we have a generation now with very few fluent speakers, so I am so pleased that there is now a school to address that.”
His sentiments are shared by fellow grandparents and parents in the community.
Te Papa Apii Rutaki currently has a roll of over 100 students, and will soon welcome a full immersion day-care to their premises.
By Tiana Haxton of RNZ.
