October 14, 2015
Church neglect factor in school closures
Mana leader Hone Harawira says whanau and students at two troubled Maori boarding schools may be due an apology from their respective churches.
The Catholic Hato Petera on Auckland's North Shore started the fourth term this week with its younger boarders billeted out because of the poor condition of the hostels, and older boarders only guaranteed beds until the end of the year.
And this morning Education Minister Hekia Parata announced she has made a provisional decision to close Turakina Maori Girls College because the Presbyterian Church can't show it is willing to spend the money needed to fix the buildings and establish financial security.
Mr Harawira, who did an extensive survey of Maori boarding schools as part of a group looking at reopening St Stephens and Queen Victoria schools, says when St Stephen's closed, Archbishop Brown Turei apologised to students and whanau from for the failings of the Anglican Church.
"That was an acknowledgement of the role the church may have played or not played in keeping it going so it was an important element at St Stephens and I suspect it's hurting as much for some of the whanau at both Hato Petera and Turakina," he says.
Hone Harawira says the proprietors of Maori boarding schools need to consider how best to use their resources for the benefit of the students and Maori community, rather than clinging to outmoded funding models or even to their historic sites.
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