A dawn ceremony marked the long-awaited completion of a new multi-million dollar kura kaupapa Māori campus in Manurewa, Auckland.
Te Pūtahi Māori o Manurewa is a new $47 million purpose-built campus that will house two existing kura: Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Manurewa (TKKM o Manurewa) (primary school) and Te Wharekura o Manurewa (secondary school – Year 9-15).
Hundreds endured a cold and frosty start to the day to bless Te Pūtahi Māori o Manurewa, the new two-storied building and its grounds. A pōwhiri held later in the morning saw bus and van loads of local kōhanga reo and kura groups arrive in droves.
Maahia Nathan, principal of Te Putahi Māori o Manurewa, said it was heartwarming to see such a turn out.
“Harikoa noa atu i te āhuatanga o te tini o te iwi te haere mai ki te tautoko i tā tātou kaupapa – ehara i te mea nā te tangata kotahi, kahore (I’m beyond happy to see the masses here in support of this kaupapa – [the project] was never a single individual’s effort, no).”
He said the wharekura was a community-driven initiative born of the need for a Māori-medium secondary school option for local Māori kids.
Three kura in Manurewa at the time, including TKKM o Manurewa, catered to whānau with primary school kids, said Nathan, but from Year 8 onwards, students and their whānau who wanted to continue Māori-immersion education had to travel to Te Kura Māori o Ngā Tapuwae in neighbouring Mangere.
So in 1999, a hui was held at Manurewa Marae.
“Ka karangahia ngā rōpū Māori katoa o Manurewa me te Tāhuhu [o Te Mātauranga] ki te tohu ki te Tāhuhu me whakatū tētahi wharekura mō Manurewa (The call went out to all the Māori groups in Manurewa and to the Ministry of Education to hui where the ministry were told of our need for a wharekura).
“Nā, ka whakaae katoa te hapori, ka whakaae katoa te Tāhuhu, nā ka timata ai te whakatō, me kī, te kākano, me ngā moemoeā a te iwi, a te hapori o Manurewa (The community were all in agreement, as were the ministry, and the seed was planted – the community started to dream).”
According to briefing notes published by MOE, Te Wharekura o Manurewa became a kura teina (satellite) in 2002 and was officially recognised as a secondary school in 2010.
Located behind Manurewa Marae in prefab buildings, the kura has been waiting for a permanent base since.
In 2015, the Ministry of Education combined the project to relocate the wharekura with providing new facilities for TKKM o Manurewa.
An investment of $24 million was announced to build new facilities for the two schools in 2017, and the year after that the schools agreed to co-locate to their current site.
The notes said the 2020 “delivery date” of new facilities were delayed due to “designation issues”.
An additional $18.9 million was announced for the development in 2021.
