Waha Rumaki
The Waha Rumaki allowance supports certificated kaiako to carry out their work in kaupapa Māori immersion and bilingual education and care services.
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Inform
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As part of Budget 2023, funding was allocated to establish a Māori immersion teachers’ allowance certificated kaiako allowance ($4.968m over 4 years).
- Overview and key information for the first payment
- Background into the name Waha Rumaki
- Eligibility for the Waha Rumaki
- How to apply and what information you need
- More information and resources
Overview and key information for the first payment
The Waha Rumaki allowance applies to kaupapa Māori bilingual and immersion care and education services. It is intended to provide certificated kaiako in these services with an allowance on top of their salary, to recognise their extra language and cultural competencies.
The rates for this allowance are based on rates provided to school teachers in the Primary Teachers Collective Agreement. The rates, per certificated kaiako, per year, are:
|
Allowance |
Immersion (81-100%) |
Bilingual (51-80%) |
|---|---|---|
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Base allowance |
$6,000 |
$5,000 |
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After 3 years’ service |
$10,000 |
$7,000 |
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After 6 years’ service |
$12,000 |
$8,000 |
Kaupapa Māori education and care services must apply to receive the Waha Rumaki on behalf of their certificated kaiako. These services will be required, as a condition of funding, to attest:
- Whether their service teaches in te reo Māori at an immersion or bilingual level.
- Full Time Equivalent (FTE) and years of service teaching at immersion or bilingual for all certificated kaiako in their service, and
- That the service is paying the Waha Rumaki to certificated kaiako on top of their base salary.
The Waha Rumaki will be pro-rata for part time certificated kaiako, with this based on their total hours of employment.
It is intended for the Waha Rumaki to be paid monthly.
Key information for the first payment
The Waha Rumaki is effective from 1 January 2024. Services will receive their first payment for the allowance on 3 June 2024.This payment will be backdated to 1 January 2024.
Submit the application form by 8 May 2024 to receive the first payment on 3 June 2024. We cannot guarantee the back pay to 1 January if you do not apply for the first payment by 8 May.
Background into the name Waha Rumaki
The name Waha Rumaki was given by Ngā Puna Reo o Aotearoa to the Ministry of Education.
Waha means to carry or to uplift, to raise up. It is also a person's mouth, voice, and the action of speaking.
Rumaki means to immerse or be immersed. It also means to plant (ie sowing te reo Māori).
Additionally, waha is both a noun and a verb.
Noun: Waha is the person who carries or uplifts te reo Māori. That person is the waha that carries or maintains the rumaki.
Verb: Waha also refers the action, strategies and practical application of uplifting te reo and maintaining a rumaki (reo Māori only) learning environment.
Purpose of the Waha Rumaki allowance
The purpose of the Waha Rumaki is to:
- give practical recognition to te reo Māori as a taonga to be actively protected under te Tiriti o Waitangi
- recognise the additional skills certificated kaiako in education and care services must have to teach the curriculum in te reo Māori
- support language-based education and care services (puna reo) to recognise, retain and attract certificated kaiako with the additional language skills they require.
Eligibility for the Waha Rumaki
Every certificated kaiako employed in a teaching role in a te reo Māori immersion or bilingual education and care service is eligible to receive the Waha Rumaki allowance. The allowance is irrespective of the language competency of individual kaiako or fluency of individual children attending the service.
Service eligibility
The Waha Rumaki is only available to licensed kaupapa Māori education and care services, it is not available to other types of ECE services.
Definition of immersion and bilingual kaupapa Māori education and care services
The Waha Rumaki has 2 levels of language immersion. The bilingual level and the immersion level. The definitions of those are:
Immersion: 81% to 100%
- Te reo Māori is the principal language of communication and instruction with mokopuna used 81% or more of the time, including in the implementation of the curriculum.
- It’s expected that mokopuna in the centre can interact freely in te reo Māori, without being prompted.
Bilingual: 51% to 80%
- Te reo Māori is used at least 51% of the time as the language of communication and instruction with mokopuna, including in the implementation of the curriculum.
- English is accepted as a temporary language of instruction and communication.
- It’s not expected that all mokopuna in the centre can interact freely in te reo Māori, and they may require prompting to speak in te reo Māori.
Kaiako eligibility
The allowance is only available for certificated kaiako, employed and teaching in an eligible kaupapa Māori education and care services.
Definition of certificated teachers
Certificated teachers have a current practising certificate issued by the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. Certificated teachers must have either a:
- NZ ECE or primary teaching qualification
- comparable overseas qualification as assessed by NZQA
- have a letter from the Teaching Council with a clear “endorsement” (where registration has been gained through the Council’s discretionary pathway).
Other eligibility criteria
Certificated kaiako must be in a teaching position. Certificated kaiako working in other roles (for example administrators, chef or gardeners) are not eligible for the Waha Rumaki.
Relievers are not eligible to receive the Waha Rumaki.
Kaiako in split roles
Where a certificated kaiako is employed part-time in a teaching role or management position and part-time in another role, the certificated kaiako is eligible to receive the Waha Rumaki for all hours connected to their employment in a teaching role or management position.
Where a certificated kaiako, employed in a non-teaching role, engages in a teaching role regularly, for example to regularly cover breaks, they are eligible to receive the Waha Rumaki for all hours they are engaged in a teaching role.
How to apply and what information you need
The Waha Rumaki is effective from 1 January 2024. Services will receive their first payment for the allowance on 3 June 2024.This payment will be backdated to 1 January 2024.
Submit the application form by 8 May 2024 to receive the first payment on 3 June 2024. We cannot guarantee the back pay to 1 January if you do not apply for the first payment by 8 May.
How to apply
Kaupapa Māori education and care services apply for the Waha Rumaki on behalf of their certificated kaiako.
This payment must be paid on top of the certificated teachers' usual salary. The Ministry will pay services a proportion of the allowance for each certificated kaiako every month, this proportion of allowance must then be paid to each certificated kaiako.
Services can apply for the Waha Rumaki by emailing ECE.MaoriPacificFunding@education.govt.nz to request an application form. The Ministry will then send the electronic form out. You will then need to complete this application form - make sure all information is entered correctly. Once the form has been completed the Ministry will process the claim and deliver funding to the eligible service for each certificated kaiako.
Each month, an email will be sent to the kaupapa Māori education and care service asking if there are any updates to the information we hold. This gives eligible services a chance to update the level of language they operate in, any changes to the recorded certificated kaiako, their FTE or years of service. It is important that services update the Ministry with any changes so funding can be adjusted as needed.
Information required in the application
Services will need to provide the Ministry with information on the level of language they operate in and the experience and total FTE for each of their certificated kaiako. This information will be collected through the online form.
Language is determined across the service
Language level (ie immersion or bilingual) is assessed across the service recognising how the service promotes and encourages the use of te reo Māori. The level that a service attests to meeting, is assessed across the entire service licence. The average amount of time spent teaching in te reo Māori across the entire service will be used to determine the immersion level.
For example, a service that operates a bilingual and immersion room within their service is unlikely to be eligible for this allowance at immersion. They will not meet the 81% requirement across the entire service. However, they may be eligible for the allowance if they meet the requirements of 51% at bilingual across the entire service.
Kaiako FTE
Any certificated kaiako in a teaching role or management position will be eligible for the Waha Rumaki based on their total FTE. Their FTE can be calculated by dividing the hours worked by 40 hours in a standard working week. A kaiako cannot receive more than one FTE worth of Waha Rumaki in a year.
The Waha Rumaki will be pro rata. For example, a kaiako who works 0.5 of a full-time equivalent kaiako would receive half the allowance.
For certificated kaiako employed in split roles, only the hours they are employed in a teaching role engaging in duties and responsibilities connected with their employment in a teaching role and managment position should be counted as hours of work towards the Waha Rumaki.
Kaiako are eligible to receive their Waha Rumaki while on paid leave for their usual days worked. If a kaiako is on extended leave without pay for their usual days worked, they cannot claim the allowance during this time.
If a certificated kaiako works across multiple services, they will be eligible for the Waha Rumaki based on the FTE worked at each service, up to a full FTE. Therefore, if a certificated kaiako works 0.2 at service A and 0.8 at service B they would be eligible for 20% of the Waha Rumaki entitlement from service A and 80% of the entitlement from service B. It is the responsibility of both services to ensure that a kaiako does not claim more than a single FTE worth of Waha Rumaki in a year.
Kaiako years of service
The Waha Rumaki is paid to certificated kaiako at higher rates once they have completed 3 years of service and then again when they have completed 6 years of service.
Service recognition includes all previous experience as an employed certificated kaiako working in an immersion or bilingual environment, which can include experience as a certificated kaiako working for other bilingual or immersion early learning services (including kōhanga reo) or in kura kaupapa Māori.
It is up to a kaiako to provide evidence, to the satisfaction of their employer, of any factors used to determine the length of service as a certificated kaiako in a recognised immersion environment:
- a certificated kaiako employed in a teaching position teaching at immersion or bilingual within a New Zealand state or state integrated school (including kura)
- a certificated kaiako in a teaching or management position in a licensed te reo Māori immersion or bilingual early childhood centre (including puna reo and kōhanga reo).
- A certificated kaiako working for other immersion or bilingual services.
Calculating years of service
One year’s service is recognised following the completion of 2080 hours of work. Experience can consist of a combination of service at immersion and bilingual environments.
Hours of work relates to the total hours required for a teacher to properly fulfil the duties and responsibilities connected with their employment. This will include, rostered hours, non-contact hours, staff meetings, paid professional learning and development and any paid leave.
Any previous relevant work experience that has occurred more than 10 years ago should not be credited.
Teaching experience as an un-certificated kaiako in te reo Māori immersion or bilingual environments should be credited as half-service up to a maximum of 2 years experience.
Any previous relevant work experience as a non-certificated kaiako that has occurred within the past 10 years should be credited as half-service up to a maximum of 2 years service.
Half-credit means that each hour worked in the relevant role should be counted as half an hour of work for purposes of calculating experience in an immersion environment.
More information and resources
Supporting document for record keeping (editable) [PDF, 204 KB]
Supporting tool to calculate experience and FTE [XLSX, 128 KB]
ECE Funding Handbook
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