Changes to readers for young children have sparked criticism from academics, authors and teachers, who have called it ‘an assault’ on Māori identity
A shake-up of New Zealand’s curriculum has resulted in Māori words being scrapped from a selection of books used to teach five-year-olds and a decision not to reprint a well-loved book for young readers because it contained too many Māori words.
The changes have sparked widespread criticism from academics, teachers and authors, who have called it “an assault” on Māori identity and the latest in the coalition government’s efforts to prioritise English over the Indigenous language – criticisms the education minister has strongly rejected.
In 2024, education minister Erica Stanford announced she was implementing a “structured literacy approach” to reading, which teaches children to read by using sounds and phonics to understand words.
Part of that change has resulted in a decision to cut Māori words – except for characters’ names – from any new books in the education ministry’s Ready to Read Phonics Plus series – a series of 78 books provided to primary schools.
