Ka pōwhiritia ai Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu, tētehi o ngā kura ako nui o te motu i ngā wāhine Māori ki ngā tūranga teitei. Ā, ko Christine Te Kiri (Ngāi Tūhoe), kua tohua mana nei hei Tumuaki Tuarua Marautanga ki te kura kāwanatanga nui rawa atu i Aotearoa. I whakamanahia tōna kopounga ki Kirikiriroa Marae, i te taha o ngā iwi o te rohe me ngā kaimahi.
Neke atu i te 30,000 ngā akonga e tautokona ana e Te Kura | Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu i ia tau, tae noa ki tētahi o ngā rōpū tauira Māori nui rawa atu o te motu, mā te tuku akoranga tawhiti, akoranga tuihono hoki puta noa i Aotearoa me tāwāhi.
I ai ki a Puti Gardiner, te Kaihautu-ā-motu Tuku Akoranga i Te Kura, he mārama te huringa i rongo ai ngā kaimahi i raro i tōna rangatiratanga.
“He maha ōna pūkenga nō mātou te whiwhi. Engari ko tētahi o ōna mātāpono ko te whankawhanaungatanga, kaha rawa ia whakaite, hui tahi ai, matou o te kura, ki te whānau, te hapū, te iwi me te hāpour katoa.”
I kī a Christine ka noho tonu tana titiro ki te whakarite kia whai hua ngā whakahoutanga mātauranga ā-motu mō ngā ākonga he rerekē ō rātou huarahi i te tikanga matua.
“Ko te wero tino nui ko te ao hurihuri. It is such an ever-changing world and putting all the outside noise a side, what I learned as a child of the system is not what my babies have leaned, or what my mokopuna have learned.”
E whakapono ana a Christine me huri haere tonu ngā kaiako i ā rātou mahi, nō te mea tērā pea kāore e hāngai ana ngā tikanga whakaako tuku iho ki tēnei wā.
Ko tēnei kopounga tētahi kaupapa matua tuatahi ā-motu mō Te Kura, i te mea tokowhā ngā wāhine Māori e tū ana i ināianei i runga i tōna kapa hautū, ko Te Rina Leonard (Kaihautū) ko Puti Gardiner (Kaihautū-ā-motu Tuku Akoranga), ko Amy Stewart (Kaihautū-ā-motu Ākonga Hauora), me Christine Te Kiri (Kaihautū-ā-motu Marautanga)
I kī te Pou Tikanga, a Adam Whauwhau, he kōpoutanga tēnei e tika ana kia whakahīhī ai a Te Kura.
“E whakamihi ana ki a kia, kaore e tno kite ana te Māoiri e tū ana ki tēne āhuatanga.enagri kua kite anō i ana pukenga, I tana kaha ki te whai, I eke anō ki ngā taumata o tana tūranga.”