The land here at Browns Rd in Manurewa is prepped and ready.
The wait for a new kura campus in Manurewa continues. School officials from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Manurewa and Te Wharekura o Manurewa say they want immediate action from the Ministry of Education to get the build underway.
Manurewa kaumātua Rangi Mclean says, "we are standing on the designated land where the wharekura, the kura kaupapa and kōhanga reo will stand. From 21 years ago to now we are still upholding this cause."
But school officials from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Manurewa and Te Wharekura o Manurewa say the wait goes on.
Te Wharekura o Manurewa principal Maahia Nathan says, "We want to see a commitment from the current government. It has been far to long a process and to many systems to follow within the ministry of education. There have been many difficulties and fences we've had to hurdle." Nathan also says, "The reason for this new school is to revive and sustain the language. So that the language remains with our grand children and our school community."
Last year the schools were allocated $24mil by the then Minister of Education Nikki Kaye to build a new campus here. The goal was to build a reo hub heart of South Auckland.
Mclean also says, "There has been support from the Manurewa board, the Auckland city council which started with Sir Barry Curtis, Len Brown and now to Phill Goff. They have all supported this initiative.
The wharekura has been operating since 2002 in prefabs at the back of Manurewa Marae. Nathan says their current role with the kura kaupapa is around 100, but could grow to 300 at the new campus.
Nathan also says, "There is a lot of support for this initiative because this initiative helps to revive our language. This initiative will also help to build a Māori language speaking community."
A spokesperson for Minister of Maori medium education, Kelvin Davis, says the kura and wharekura are still going ahead. The Ministry is in the early design stages and expect to start building next year.