Designated character schools were created under the Education Act 1989 of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, which allows the

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

to establish two types of designated character schools under Sections 155 and 156 of the act. The Ministry of Education defined a designated character school as "a state school that has a particular character which sets it apart from ordinary state schools and kura kaupapa Māori. The only students who may enrol at a designated character school are those whose parents accept the particular character of the school."

Section 155 schools

Kura kaupapa Māori Kura may refer to: Places * Kura, Iran (disambiguation) * Kura Island, Azerbaijan * Kura, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Kano State * Kura (South Caucasus river), a river in Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan * Kura (Russia), a river in R ...

are Māori-language immersion schools, where the principal language of instruction is

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

. They differ from the older kōhanga reo, which are

immersion Immersion may refer to: The arts * "Immersion", a 2012 story by Aliette de Bodard * ''Immersion'', a French comic book series by Léo Quievreux * ''Immersion'' (album), the third album by Australian group Pendulum * ''Immersion'' (film), a 2021 ...

kindergartens Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

. * Te Kura o Waikare * Nga Taiatea Wharekura * Te Kura o Hirangi * Te Kura o Torere * Te Kura Toitu o Te Whaiti-nui-a-Toi * Te Kura Kaupapa Motuhake o Tawhiuau * Mana Tamariki * Te Kura o Te Whakatupuranga Rua Mano * Te Kura Maori o Porirua In 2018, some of New Zealand's twelve approved partnership schools (a version of charter school) successfully applied to become designated character schools after the newly formed Labour-led coalition government set about removing legislation from the Education Act allowing for charter schools.

Section 156 schools

These are identified as ''designated character schools'', under Section 156. The special character of schools established under this section is not specified in the Act, and parents may propose any desirable special character as long as no other local school is already delivering an education reflecting the same special character. *

Ao Tawhiti Ao Tawhiti or Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery (ATUD) is a state school, state area school in Christchurch, New Zealand. The school is one of eleven schools running under the "Designated Special Character schools, Designated Special Character" crit ...

* Te Whanau o Tupuranga''"The merged school will be a Year 7-13 designated character school under section 156"''
9SEP2010, gazette.govt.nz

References

Designated Special Character schools {{Maori-stub