Source: Radio New Zealand
The tino rangatiratanga haki (flag) outside Parliament. RNZ / Emma Andrews
A petition calling on the government to restore school boards’ legal duty to implement Te Tiriti o Waitangi will be presented to parliament on Monday.
The ‘Protect Te Tiriti in Education’ petition, organised by the National Iwi Chairs Forum (NICF) and supported by a coalition of national education organisations, has gathered almost 24,000 signatures, since its launch in early November.
It seeks to immediately reverse the recent amendment to Section 127 of the Education and Training Act, which removed schools’ requirement to embrace Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
At the time, Education Minister Erica Stanford said the Treaty was the crown’s responsibility, not schools’.
“School boards should have direction and we are giving very clear direction,” she said. “You need to ensure equitable outcomes for Māori students, you need to be offering te reo Māori and you need to be culturally competent.”.
Rahui Papa, chair of Pou Tangata – the NICF’s arm responsible for education – said Te Tiriti was the foundation of partnership in Aotearoa and removing it from education law undermined the country’s shared responsibility to support all learners, Māori and non-Māori.
“More than 23,000 people across Aotearoa have added their names to the petition, calling on this government to affirm its commitment to Te Tiriti and ensure that it still has a meaningful place in education.”
Despite the repeal already passing into law, Papa said the forum would present the petition to political leaders, “who are committed to fighting for an equitable, supportive and uplifting education system for our tamariki”.
Opunake High School pledges its commitment to the Waitangi Treaty. Supplied
Since the boards’ treaty requirements were removed, kura (schools) across the motu have publicly re-affirmed their commitment to it.
Te Rārangi Rangatira – a list compiled by lawyer and Māori rights advocate Tania Waikato – has grown daily.
By 4 December, 1618 schools, 32 principals’ associations and collectives, and 281 ECEs, kindergartens and kōhanga reo had pledged their support.
The repeal has also prompted Northland iwi Ngāti Hine and hapū Te Kapotai to file an urgent Waitangi Tribunal inquiry, arguing the change undermines the crown’s obligations to tamariki Māori and breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The country’s largest education union – NZEI Te Riu Roa – has backed the claim.
The National Iwi Chairs Forum-led petition is supported by NZEI Te Riu Roa, the New Zealand Principals’ Federation, PPTA Te Wehengarua, Te Akatea Māori Principals Association, the Secondary Principals Association of New Zealand, Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa – New Zealand School Boards Association, Ngā Kura ā Iwi o Aotearoa and Te Rūnanga Nui o ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa.
Pou Tangata chair Rahui Papa at Tuurangawaewae Marae. RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Papa previously told RNZ the coalition collectively represented 88 iwi, and more than 95,000 teachers, principals, schools and kura.
“We agree with the Minister of Education, when she says that school boards play an important role in raising achievement,” he said. “Boards set the overall direction of a school or kura through their governance responsibilities and development of strategic plans.”
He said removing Te Tiriti from the one place every child in Aotearoa passes through “deprives our tamariki of the opportunity to learn about identity, belonging and partnership in a culturally responsive environment.”
“We will not sit idly by while this happens.”
The petition will be delivered on Monday afternoon at parliament.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
