46351 (2025). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister of Education

Written Question

Published date: 09 Oct 2025

Metadata

Document type:	Written Question
Parliament number:	54
Question number:	46351 (2025)
Question asked:	25 Sep 2025
Member asking:	Hon Willow-Jean Prime
Portfolio:	Minister of Education
Minister replying:	Hon Erica Stanford
Answer received:	05 Oct 2025
Status:	Question Answered
Reply type:	Reply
Document ID:	WQ_46351_2025
Document guid:	2e0224c5-0814-4604-819e-61a40f457e02

46351 (2025). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister of Education: Did any of the evidence provided to the Minister, if any, contradict the decision to remove te reo Māori from early reading books; if so, what did it say?

Hon Erica Stanford: The 54% increase resulted in a daily rate of $1,500 maximum per day for the Chair. The 62% increase resulted in a daily rate of $1,000 maximum for members per day. The report I received on 11 October 2024, titled Kupu Māori in Ready to read Phonics Plus Books highlighted that expert views are mixed about the use of non-English words in English-language phonics-based student reading books, and there is limited evidence about the impact of kupu Māori in phonics readers. Some New Zealand experts support the inclusion of kupu Māori from the beginning of the reading sequence while others advise not to use them until after the early phase.