South Auckland school marks major milestone

Māngere East Primary School is celebrating a major milestone this year, two years since the opening of its Cook Islands Bilingual Unit.

Established in 2023 to address a long-standing need expressed by local families, the programme provides a space for Cook Islands children to connect with their language and culture at school.

The initiative offers full immersion in Kūki Āirani (Cook Islands Māori) for younger students and enriched bilingual lessons for older learners, helping to preserve language and culture among New Zealand-born generations.

In an interview on PMN Cook Islands, team leader Rimana Jailabdeen, who works at Māngere East Primary, highlighted the lack of a Cook Islands language unit before the initiative.

“We saw the Sāmoans have theirs, the Tongans have theirs, but where is ours? Most of our parents are English speakers. They want the culture, they identify as Cook Islanders, and it’s our job to support that.”

The bilingual unit began with 23 students in 2023 and has grown to over 50 children across three classrooms, up to Year Six.

Students at Māngere East Primary take part in pioneering reo Kūki ‘Āirani immersion and Bilingual Unit program. Photo/PMN News.

The youngest learners receive full immersion in reo Kūki ‘Āirani, while older students follow a bilingual curriculum that blends 20 per cent Cook Islands language and culture with their mainstream lessons.

The program was developed through extensive consultation with local families and community members to strengthen their connection to their heritage.

“Our vision is unity, we call it Rotoi'anga unity, to reflect our commitment to the whole school community,” Jailabdeen says.

Watch Rimana Jailabdeen's full interview below.

Māngere East Primary’s leadership, including principal Stephanie Anich, has provided strong support, and the Cook Islands Ministry of Education has supplied resources to help grow the programme. Students regularly perform traditional songs and dances at school and community events, becoming cultural ambassadors.

Looking ahead, the unit’s leaders emphasise the importance of developing language pathways through intermediate and secondary education, and encourage more Cook Islands teachers and families to get involved.

“We don’t just want Tamariki just to say ‘Kia Orana’. We want them to live the language every day,” Jailabdeen says.

This unit’s anniversary milestone highlights the increasing recognition of bilingual education’s role in preserving Pasifika languages in Aotearoa, echoing previous PMN coverage on the benefits of bilingualism, such as “Bilingual brains are best.”