Native schools

Native schools or Māori schools in New Zealand were established to provide education for Māori children. The first schools for Māori were established by the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) in the Bay of Islands starting in 1816¹. Catholic priests and brothers established schools for Māori throughout the country, including Hato Paora College (Feilding) and Hato Petera College (Auckland). St Joseph's Māori Girls' College (Taradale) was founded by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions. The Native Schools Act 1867¹ established a national system of village primary schools under the control of the Native Department. Instruction was to be conducted in English where practical. Under the Act, it was the responsibility of Māori communities to request a school for their children, form a school committee, supply land for the school and, until 1871, pay for half of the building costs and a quarter of the teacher's salary. Many communities were keen for their children to learn English as a second language and by 1879 there were 57 native schools. In 1880 the first inspector of native schools was appointed and a Native Schools Code was issued that prescribed a curriculum, established qualifications for teachers, and standardised operation for the Māori schools.

Native schools or Māori schools in New Zealand were established to provide education for Māori children. The first schools for Māori were established by the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) in the Bay of Islands starting in 1816. Catholic priests and brothers established schools for Māori throughout the country, including Hato Paora College (Feilding) and Hato Petera College (Auckland). St Joseph's Māori Girls' College (Taradale) was founded by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions. The Native Schools Act 1867 established a national system of village primary schools under the control of the Native Department. Instruction was to be conducted in English where practical. Under the Act, it was the responsibility of Māori communities to request a school for their children, form a school committee, supply land for the school and, until 1871, pay for half of the building costs and a quarter of the teacher's salary. Many communities were keen for their children to learn English as a second language and by 1879 there were 57 native schools. In 1880 the first inspector of native schools was appointed and a Native Schools Code was issued that prescribed a curriculum, established qualifications for teachers, and standardised operation for the Māori schools.

Church and missionary schools

The CMS founded its first mission at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands in 1814¹ and over the next decade established schools in the Bay of Islands, the first being run by Thomas Kendall from 1816 to 1818. Education of Māori children and adults advanced with the arrival of Henry Williams and his wife Marianne in 1823. In 1826 Henry's brother William Williams and his wife Jane joined the CMS mission and settled at Paihia in the Bay of Islands, where schools were established. Richard Taylor was appointed as head of the CMS school at Te Waimate mission in 1839 and remained there until 1842. Schools for Māori children and adults were established in locations where the CMS established mission stations. For example, William Williams and his family arrived at Tūranga, Poverty Bay, on 20 January 1840. The schools run by William and Jane were well attended; the school opened with five classes for men, two classes for women and classes for boys. Classes covered practical knowledge as well as teaching of the scriptures. Early missionary schools were often conducted in the Māori language, which was the predominant language throughout the early part of the 19th century. Māori who had attended mission schools set up their own schools back in their villages. By the 1860s, three-quarters of the Māori population could read in Māori and two-thirds could write in Māori. The Education Ordinance of 1847 provided some funding for mission schools and required them to conduct classes in English in order to receive the subsidies. Te Aute College was established by Samuel Williams of the CMS in 1854¹. The Native Schools Act 1858 continued the subsidies for church boarding schools for Māori. The mission schools struggled to conduct all teaching in English, and many continued to teach in Māori. The Roman Catholic St Joseph's Māori Girls' College was established by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in 1867. The New Zealand Wars caused many of the mission schools to close. However, Te Aute College and St Joseph's Māori Girls' College, both in Hawke's Bay, were not impacted by the wars. The Anglican Hukarere Girls' College was established in Napier in 1875¹. Catholic priests and brothers established other schools for Māori, including Hato Petera College (Auckland) in 1928¹ and Hato Paora College (Feilding) in 1947.

Native schools

The Native Schools Act of 1867 was a major shift in policy. Rather than helping churches to rebuild mission schools after the wars, the government offered secular, state-controlled, primary schools to Māori communities who petitioned for them. In return for providing a suitable site, the government provided a school, teacher, books, and materials. Native school teachers frequently also provided medicines and medical advice to their pupils and their families, and acted as liaison between rural communities and the government. The schools were transferred from the Native Department to the Department of Education in 1879. James Pope was appointed the organising inspector of native schools in January 1880 and later that year he issued a Native Schools Code that prescribed a curriculum, established qualifications for teachers, and standardised operation for the native schools. The primary mission was to assimilate Māori into European culture. Māori could attend Board of Education schools and non-Māori could attend native schools, although the primary purpose of the native schools was providing European education for Māori.

See also

History of education in New Zealand Kura kaupapa Māori (Māori-language schools established from the 1980s onwards) American Indian boarding schools Canadian Indian residential school system

Further reading

Barrington, John. Separate but Equal?: Māori Schools and the Crown, 1867–1969 (Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2008) Simon, Judith, ed. The Native Schools System 1867–1969: Ngā Kura Māori (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1998)

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