Editing Native schools (section)

{{Short description|Schools established to acculturate Māori into white New Zealander society}}
{{Use dmy dates|date = April 2019}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date = April 2019}}
{{About|the schools in New Zealand||Native School (disambiguation){{!}}Native School}}

{{Multiple image
| image1            = Wesleyan Native School. Three Kings, near Auckland (1849).jpg
| image2            = Whirinaki Native School.jpg
| caption1          = Painting of the Wesleyan Native School, [[Three Kings, New Zealand|Three Kings]], [[Auckland]] (April 1849)
| alt2              = Native school in Whirinaki, Te Tai Tokerau
| caption2          = Native school at [[Whirinaki, Northland|Whirinaki]], in [[Northland Region|Northland]]
}}
'''Native schools''' or '''Māori schools''' in [[New Zealand]] were established to provide education for [[Māori people|Māori]] children. The first schools for Māori were established by the Anglican [[New Zealand Church Missionary Society|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, New Zealand|Taradale]])  was founded by the [[Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions|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 [[Te Puni Kōkiri#Native Department (1861–1893)|Native Department]]. As part of the Government's policy to assimilate Māori into Pākehā society, instruction was to be conducted entirely 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.