The Government will remove a requirement for school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, but will still make it clear they should seek to achieve equitable outcomes for Māori students.
The current law already contains objectives, including the one to ensure “the school gives effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi”.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said the current legislated requirement means parents in charge of governance of local schools are expected to “interpret and implement a Treaty obligation that rightfully sits with the Crown”.
“Take care of our children. Take care of what they hear, take care of what they see, take care of what they feel. For how the children grow, so will be the shape of Aotearoa.”
It is 50 years on from Dame Whina Cooper’s words, and still thefight continues for our tamariki and their futures.
Children and young people who grow up in New Zealand deserve to understand the country they are growing up in, the history of how our diverse peoples got here, and the history that is relevant to their own local communities.
Now we are watching as Erica Stanford and her National Party colleagues take us backwards.
They are removing Aotearoa New Zealand Histories from the curriculum, dismantling years of consultation, of trust-building, of progress between the Crown and Māori.
That curriculum was developed by Kiwi history and curriculum experts and communities, with wide public consultation, and welcomed with overwhelming support. Many teachers and students report enjoying it, with a great majority of schools feeling confident about the content.
It’s worrying that we still don’t know who’s behind this curriculum and whether it was written by offshore consultants. We cannot let political ideology overrun a curriculum that’s meant to give our kids the best start to life.
Our tamariki, our mokopuna – all deserve to explore who they are, to understand the stories of the land they walk on and to hear the honest histories that have shaped all our lives.
The Aotearoa Histories curriculum served that purpose. It served to give our children a true account of our country’s past and how it might inform our future.
It encouraged curiosity about our position in the world and taught respect for places, people and culture.
For the Government to drop this curriculum, and even celebrate doing so, is a disgrace. It diminishes our own history and the relationships and connections between all people who now call New Zealand home.
When I look at the Government’s proposals, at the mātauranga lost and the stories of our tūpuna wiped and replaced with histories from abroad, I worry that we’re undermining our children’s and country’s potential. I worry whose interests this really serves.
Willow-Jean Prime and Labour leader Chris Hipkins at Waitangi.
The minister has cut te reo Māori words from school books, cut funding to Te Ahu o te Reo Māori for teachers, is scrapping Māori resource teachers and, most recently, decided school boards shouldn’t need to consider Te Tiriti o Waitangi. National is focused on the wrong things. Instead of building our students up to succeed, it is hindering progress.
My vision for the future of education in Aotearoa is that all tamariki get the opportunity to have a great start to life through learning. To do that, we need a locally developed curriculum that recognises our unique history and challenges.
Erica Stanford needs to front up and explain why she thinks learning more about ancient histories of other nations is better than learning about our own history here in New Zealand.
As a famous whakatauki puts it, “Ka mua, ka muri – walking backwards into the future.”
How are our young people supposed to help change the future for the better, if they don’t understand our past?
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