Last month Te Karere spoke with two young incredible student teachers
from Clive School in Hawke's Bay.
All was going well until they were told point blank by the principal,
they could not use Māori titles in the classroom like matua and whaea.
And their only choice was to change their title to Mr and Mrs.
For more let's cross to parliament where our political reporter
Te Okiwa Mclean is standing by.
Te Okiwa, isn't this ludicrous?
That's correct Scotty, this is absolutely wrong
in many ways.
However, in addition to what principal Brian Eales said
to the student teachers is if they did not comply,
they were to leave and train at a different school.
One of the student teachers Rangi Mitchell is now taking
this kaupapa to another level.
Fighting to ensure Māori titles are recognised.
Rangi Mitchell's kaupapa now is to bring matua and whaea
up on the same level as Mr and Mrs.
Mitchell says matua and whaea have many meanings.
This issue arose last month and the school has yet to respond.
Given Te Reo Māori is an official language here,
I took this matter to parliament officials.
What do you think?
It's profoundly ignorant!
The two student teachers have left Clive School
to complete their placement at another school.
If you think about the students,
to soften the connection to the teacher,
if they're Māori students.
The important thing is to strengthen our reo all the time.
It's great to use matua and whaea
it's a great thing to do.
I was disappointed when I heard about this incident.
Is it racist?
Kind of.
It's more of an issue of ignorance.
Rangi Mitchell is now working on a petition to get Māori titles
like whaea and matua recognised once and for all.
I reached out to Clive School to see if we could interview
principal Brian Eales and the board of trustees
but it was to no avail.
However they sent a letter to TVNZ saying since this issue
came to their attention the board has been working through
a process to review their practice around how their teachers
are addressed so that it's in-line
with best practice for New Zealand schools.
As to what that actually means,
I have no idea.
Who knows!
Thank you Te Okiwa.