New Zealand’s arts council has ended funding for a popular school Shakespeare programme, arguing it asks too much of busy schools, fails to show relevance to “the contemporary art context”, and relies on a genre “located within a canon of imperialism”.

Many have taken issue with the decision by Creative New Zealand, including former student thespian Jacinda Ardern, the nation’s prime minister.

She said: “I was a participant in Shakespeare In Schools. I thought it was a great programme.

“There’s often a limited range of things that kids who are interested in drama and speech and debate have opportunities to engage with other schools.

“And I was one of those kids. And so I would like to continue to see other kids have those opportunities.”

Ms Ardern added that the funding decision was not up to her, or even to the government. Creative New Zealand is funded by taxpayers, but is run independently.

The school programmes, workshops and festivals have been run for about 30 years by the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand.

Students can act, direct, make costumes or create a soundtrack. Often the plays are set in contemporary times or have different takes on the originals written by William Shakespeare more than 400 years ago.

The centre has been receiving about 30,000 New Zealand dollars (about £14,800) each year from the arts council, about 10% of its overall budget.

Dawn Sanders, the centre’s chief executive, said the initial rejection last month, which remained in place after a crisis meeting on Friday, had blindsided her.

“I was gobsmacked and disgusted,” she said.

She said more than 120,000 students had been involved in the festivals and programmes over the years, and many became professionals in theatre or film.

Others, she said, had used their acting skills in their jobs – for instance, lawyers who were better able to argue their cases, or doctors who developed a more engaging bedside manner.

Creative New Zealand did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In its 11-page rejection note, however, one arts council assessor said the centre had “proved the ongoing value” of its regional and national Shakespeare competition model, with some 4,600 young people participating in 24 regional festivals annually.

“The application does make me reflect on the ongoing relevance of Shakespeare, and question whether a singular focus on an Elizabethan playwright is most relevant for a decolonising Aotearoa in the 2020s and beyond,” the assessor added, using the Indigenous name for New Zealand.

A panel concluded that the Shakespeare centre “seems quite paternalistic” and that its funding proposal “did not demonstrate the relevance to the contemporary art context”.

Ms Sanders said she would try to find alternative funding and vowed the show would go on.

Since the dispute became public, she said, people had already donated thousands of dollars through online crowdsourcing.

Ms Ardern, meanwhile, said it would be wrong to extrapolate a wider comment on society from a single funding decision.

And she demurred on saying what Shakespearean role she had played as a student, saying such a disclosure could become a distraction.

“So I might just leave out the details for now,” she said.