Kohanga challenging pre-school movement

Tu Tangata, Issue 29, 1 April 1986, Page 11

Kohanga challenging pre-school movement

The kohanga reo are challenging and changing the pre-school movement in New Zealand. This was obvious at the Forum on Early Childhood Care and Education, held at Parliament late last year. Speeches followed by songs featured throughout the two-day conference, and children from local kohanga reo were well in evidence during the informalities of the opening ceremonies.

But the impact of the kohanga reo goes a lot deeper than a superficial nod to Maori style. As the fastest-growing pre-school service in the country, kohanga reo affect kingdergartens, playcentres and child care centres alike. Those involved in the other groups are begining to see that they must accept the differences, acknowledge special needs and, hardest of all, be fair about shares of the funding and resource ‘cake’.

Until recently, kohanga reo were lumped in with child care centres as far as Government funding went. They found a convenient cubbyhole in the Social Welfare Department, and some kohanga reo were licensed as child care centres and their numbers listed there. This made the child care statistics look pretty good, giving them a 75 per cent growth over the last four years. It also meant that some parents, after income testing, got help with the fees. The vigorous growth of the kohanga reo boosted the lobby working

hard for increased funding of child care generally. But when the money did come, in 1985, a lot of it was reserved for centres with “trained” staff and the kohanga reo training didn’t qualify. There were some subsidies available for “approved” building projects... and the kohanga reo usually didn’t build. Latest figures show that two-thirds of the growth in child care numbers from 1981 to 1985 was in the registered kohanga reo, yet the kohanga reo saw little of the extra money that was granted because of their life and growth. At the Women’s Forums in 1984, Maori women voiced their concern and resentment at the situation, at the lack of recognition of their skills and about the rigid system. Some said they had supported the child care lobby for increased funding, because they hoped to gain support for kohanga reo from it. But they found they did not. The kohanga reo have run into some snags on the education front too. Learning by rote is frowned on by some

educationalists. Some parents get a bit edgy at the lack of pre-school ‘equipment’. They feel their children may miss out, because of the bare surroundings, emphasis on natural materials and no toys, and that they may not be well prepared for school.

The established pre-schools more or less accept the kohanga reo. Both kindergartens and playcentres don’t like being called “privileged preschools”, a label used by some people at the early childhood forum. So they want to appear understanding and welcoming. But there are some sideways looks. Kindergartens note that their rolls include as many Maori children as ever. Playcentres, which were described by John Bennett of the Kohanga Reo Trust as “the soil from which kohanga reo sprang”, have in some places converted to kohanga reo management. Officially, playcentres welcome the kohanga reo and recognise the justice of their claims for separate consideration and funding. But privately, there is some fear that kohanga reo, especially in rural areas, could reduce playcentre rolls and leave them vulnerable to claims that playcentre’s day is past. But there are still a lot of children under five, of Maori and other races, who get no preschool time at all. Trudy Keenan of the Institute for Economic

Research has calculated that there are well over 100,000 of them, mostly under three years old. Statistics Department people estimate that there are fewer Maori children at pre-school than there could be, given their proportion in the general population. The Kohanga Reo Trust aims for 28,000 children in the language nests within ten years, not all of them with Maori blood. That still leaves more than two hundred thousand children under five for the other preschools to pick up.

Like playcentres, the kohanga reo survive on voluntary labour. But unlike playcentres, they operate five days a week and many have longer hours. Yet only one in three, or fewer, of the

workers are paid. Some see this as a strength: Donna Awatere told the Early Childhood Forum that “the kohanga reo is based on the abilities and strengths of ordinary people, not trained or paid.” The Minister of Maori Affairs, Mr Koro Wetere, also sees “the strength of the kohanga reo is in its voluntary nature”.

John Bennett developed this theme at the Early Childhood Forum. “The annual value of the people contribution in facilities, services and fees is in the vicinity of twelve million dollars,” he said. “No one anticipated the reaction of the Maori people to this Maori language programme, and the complete dedication with which it has been ac-

cepted and pursued.” But with 448 language nests now operating, and more than 8000 children enrolled, the resources are becoming stretched. The Maori Women’s Welfare League estimates that one-third of all its members are involved in kohanga reo. ‘‘Most of our kaiako are over 50,” says Carol Love of the Kohanga Reo Trust. ‘‘This makes our training programme so very important. There is such a demand for maori language speakers now, in schools and other places where they can offer good pay. Now the VOTP scheme is being phased out, which helped pay some of our people, and there may be problems till the replacement scheme settles down.”

Other resources needed include buildings, suitable places for adults and young children to spend five days a week. While nearly half the language nests use marae, others are based in private homes, in school buildings, playcentres, churches and halls. Some establishment grants come through Maori Affairs, but they don’t go anywhere near buying property. When the childcare services and kohanga reo with them shift across to the Education Department, they may have access to building subsidies. But even so, there is a lot of community fundraising, time and energy involved.

The shift to Education Department administration, so loudly demanded by the childcare services, is not so eagerly sought by the kohanga reo. Maori experience with the education system has not been happy in the past. There are fears that, with four major pre-school services and a host of smaller ones to feed, the Education Department cake is going to be sliced rather thin, and some services will end up with only a few crumbs.

Val Burns, Director of Early Childhood Education, doesn’t see that happening. ‘‘Because of the way pre-school has grown in this country,” she said, “each group has been independent of the other and has lobbied only for itself. Some anomalies have developed, and we will inherit the existing situation. But from here on in, we will develop policy and put it up to government for funding. We won’t have to stretch our existing resources over everybody.”

There are advantages in independence too. Playcentres know that already; they believe that 100% Government funding of anything can kill it. Koro Wetere said the same to the Aotea Regional Kohanga Reo Wananga in mid-January. ‘‘lf you had waited for official recognition and full official support,” he said, ‘‘l can assure you that there would be only about 30 or 40 language nests today, instead of our 444.” He pointed to the kindergartens, which took a hundred years to have 534 kindergartens, and only five or six new ones a year.

The whole area of language nest training and finance is currently under review. A committee of officials from different Government departments have just finished putting together a paper for Cabinet. It is not available for the public. Mr Wetere says it'has been looking at possible changes in Labour Department training and subsidy schemes, the childcare changes, and ‘‘possible further developments in early childhood care and education.”

The impact of the kohanga reo movement on the pre-school scene has been enormous. It has not necessarily taken children away from other pre-school services: most children at kohanga reo have not been at other pre-schools. To the pre-school movement, it offers a real alternative early childhood experience for children who might otherwise miss out. For parents, it gives another option, a vital and lively one, in the ever-widening range of opportunities for their children. It also encourages Maori parents to be involved in education, an experience that doesn’t stop at pre-school level. And to other minority groups, it offers a pattern which has proved successful in society which can be very unsympathetic to cultural differences.

“The kohanga reo movement with its cultural force, size and success,” said Helen Cook of the childcare service, at the Early Childhood Forum, “is not so much seeking accommodation. It is challenging the mainstream itself to make a place for it.”