wānanga

{{Short description|Type of education institution in New Zealand}}

{{Update|reason=Needs to be updated to reflect the Education and Training Act 2020|date=January 2023}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

In the education system of New Zealand, a wānanga is a publicly-owned tertiary institution or Māori university that provides education in a Māori cultural context. Section 162 of the New Zealand Education Act of 1989 specifies that wānanga resemble mainstream universities in many ways but expects them to be:

:... characterised by teaching and research that maintains, advances, and disseminates knowledge and develops intellectual independence, and assists the application of knowledge regarding āhuatanga Māori (Māori tradition) according to tikanga Māori (Māori custom).[http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0080/latest/DLM183668.html section 162 4 b iv of the Education Act 1989]

Wānanga educational programmes, accredited through the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and through the Ministry of Education, are partly governed by New Zealand's Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Wānanga offer certificates, diplomas, and bachelor-level degrees, with some wānanga providing programmes in specialized areas up to doctorate level.{{cite web | title= Doctoral Degrees | url= https://www.wananga.ac.nz/programmes/school-of-indigenous-graduate-studies/doctoral-degrees | access-date= 21 November 2018}}

Outside the 21st-century formal education system, the word wānanga in the Māori language traditionally conveys meanings related to highly evolved knowledge, lore, occult arts,

{{cite book

|last1= Best |first1= Elsdon |author-link1= Elsdon Best

|title= The Maori As He Was : A Brief Account of Life as it Was in Pre-European Days

|date= 1934 |publisher= Dominion Museum |location= Wellington

|url= http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-BesMaor-c4-2.html

|access-date= 7 February 2020 |chapter= The Whare Wananga

}}

and also "forum" – in the sense of a discussion to arrive at deeper understanding.{{citation needed|date= January 2019}}

The Education and Training Act 2020 underwent proposed amendments to better recognize the role of wānanga in New Zealand’s tertiary education system.{{Cite web |title=Legislation: Wānanga Enabling Framework |url=https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/legislation/recent-acts-passed/legislation-wananga-enabling-framework |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=www.education.govt.nz |language=en}} These changes focused on providing a new framework for the country’s three current wānanga: Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Te Wānanga o Raukawa, and Te Whare Wānanga Awanuiārangi.{{Cite news |title=Spotlight on new wānanga framework as ministers appear before select committee |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/131939574/spotlight-on-new-wnanga-framework-as-ministers-appear-before-select-committee |work=Stuff}}

The term "Whare Wānanga" is also widely used in the Māori names of New Zealand universities (e.g., Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato/University of Waikato).