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Regional

Te reo and tikanga to be incorporated into Australian curriculum

Te reo and tikanga Māori are set to become part of the Australian curriculum for a newly-established Gold Coast-based college, Hawaiki College.

Its an initiative that will see Māori and Pasifika education being taught in school, allowing students an opportunity to a bicultural education.

Hawaiki College chairman Shane Graham hopes it is just the start.

"Everyone wants this to happen because it is a new initiative and it is because it is pulling all our young people together into one place, Pacific Island and Māori together."

Hawaiki College will be the first of its kind and they hope to have between 50-100 students in the first intake.

"For Māori for Pacific Islanders, we're very family orientated so our classrooms need to be very family orientated," says Graham.

It's an initiative that's been in the works since 2011.

"It been a long time coming.  For us it's about having fun at school, having real experiences, making those experiences transferable into real-life situations.  it takes a village to help a child grow."

Graham says the school has worked collaboratively on with the indigenous people of Australia.

"We have that ongoing relationship with the indigenous people from this area and they are so helpful with what we are doing, they are grateful that we have asked them."

He also adds that the initiative will keep Māori and Pasifika children connected to their roots.

"It's their identity and it's their culture and it's the way they learn.  Everyone wants to feel connected, everyone wants to be joint together and te reo brings us into that place."

They plan to have the college up and running by next year in the hope that more will soon follow.