19699 (2026). Debbie Ngarewa-Packer to the Minister of Education

19699 (2026). Debbie Ngarewa-Packer to the Minister of Education: Does the new curriculum framework include any legally enforceable minimum standard for te reo Māori instruction for Māori students in English-medium schools, if not, why has the Government removed the previous statutory requirement for schools to take reasonable steps to provide instruction in te reo Māori and tikanga Māori?

Hon Erica Stanford: Section 127(2)(e) of the Education and Training Act 2020 requires school boards, in meeting the paramount objective, to take all reasonable steps for students to be taught, and to learn, in te reo Māori on request of their parents or immediate caregivers. To meet this requirement, English-medium schools may choose to: • teach Te Marautanga o Aotearoa within a bilingual or immersion classroom • teach te reo Māori as part of The New Zealand Curriculum. Additionally, all students learning through The New Zealand Curriculum will be taught some te reo Māori and tikanga Māori as part of the required Years 0-10 learning areas. Most of this content is still being finalised following the consultation which closed on 24 April 2026. Requirements that are already in place as part of the updated Years 0-10 English and Mathematics & Statistics learning areas include teaching students: • kupu Māori for numbers and shapes • how to read and pronounce kupu Māori as part of New Zealand texts • about pepeha and mihi, including practicing using them. To support this, we have funnelled $15m to Te Ataaranga, a Te Reo Māori PLD course for up to 50,000 teachers across the country.