Why were so many turned down

According to our information, more than a hundred applications were turned down, including a native speaker with School Certificate and teaching experience in voluntary classes, a trained Maori primary school teacher, and one of the most widely recognised Maori orators in New Zealand, again a person experienced in teaching Maori. Meanwhile, a number of pakehas have been accepted.

One of the Department's supposed reasons for introducing only a limited scheme has been that the facilities and tutors are not available. Such an explanation can only come from deliberate ignorance. If facilities are not available at teachers' colleges and universities, then there are still many other alternatives, like maraes, conference houses, etc, where pressure cooker courses could be held, followed by practical experience in the schools. If there are insufficient teachers on the staff of teachers' colleges to cope with larger numbers, then there are other experienced teachers of Maori language available. One example that comes to mind is that of a Maori lady who, with little 'formal education', has devised her own teaching methods, and to whom the Education Department already sends teachers to observe and learn. Perhaps the real shortage is of tutors who are capable in inculcating the pakeha method of teaching Maori as a written academic language, and the real obstacle the unwillingness of the Education Department to trust anyone else.