Registrations are now open for the delivery of Te Ahu o te Reo Māori in 2021, which aims to normalise te reo Māori throughout the education system, so it is used every day by everyone in the classroom.

Following its success over the last two years, Te Ahu o te Reo Māori will be expanded as a nationwide initiative for up to 10,000 teachers, leaders and support staff who wish to strengthen their use of te reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced on Monday.

'The Labour Government is committed to integrating te reo Māori into education in early learning and schools, and Te Ahu o te Reo Māori plays a critical role in delivering on this,” says Davis.

'We are already making good progress with more than 1,000 people in the education workforce graduating from the programme after it was trialled in four regions last year.

'Over the next four years we will continue strengthening up to 40,000 of our education workforce so it has the capability to successfully integrate te reo Māori into the learning of all students in Aotearoa.

'Whānau, parents, their tamariki and the wider community have made it clear that they want te reo Māori to be a part of their education experience and Te Ahu o te Reo Māori will help us to achieve this.

'This is about reinforcing our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, empowering our workforce and, most importantly, giving our young people a chance to learn their reo and better supporting them to succeed in education as Māori.

'We already have more than 1500 expressions of interest so we expect places will fill quickly. I encourage all teaching and support staff from early learning, kōhanga reo through to secondary school and wharekura to get in quickly if they want to secure a place in the 2021 intake,” Kelvin Davis said.

Based on a te reo Māori competency framework Ngā Taumata o Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, learning focuses on the use of local dialect; practice of reo use for a classroom setting; grammar and writing conventions; curriculum development; and language planning for the classroom.

More information about national delivery is available here

Information on the pilot delivery phase is available here