A Gisborne principal says changes to a winning classroom support plan to raise Maori achievement needs to involve the programme's designer Professor Russel Bishop.
The Government says Te Kotahitanga is being expanded into a broader programme called Building on Success.
Opposition parties and education union, the NZEI, say a successful programme is being abandoned.
The Ministry of Education defends the changes, saying student support is being broadened.
Lytton High School principal Wiremu Elliot says Te Kotahitanga engages students and makes them feel valued.
Mr Elliot says pupils enjoy being asked about their learning - a different approach to when he was at school where says he was a passenger in the class, not a participant.
He says details of the new scheme have yet to be provided by the ministry.
