The kohanga reo movement has been told it is focusing on Maori language at the expense of other aspects of a child's development.
The challenge has come from the head of the Whanganui branch of the Maori Women's Welfare League, Tiahuia Abraham, who has 40 years' experience as an early childhood educator.
She told Waatea News the Maori immersion preschool movement has short-changed Maori children because its adherents fail to understand the role of play in the education process.
She also says there is no training in child development.
