The Mātauranga Iwi Leaders Group says the Government has again failed Māori in education following a Waitangi Tribunal report highly critical of the Crown’s approach to rewriting the school curriculum.
The Tribunal’s Hūtia te Rito o te Harakeke, kei Hea te Kōmako e Kō? report found multiple breaches of Treaty principles in the development of the Government’s new curriculum, including failures around partnership and consideration of the aspirations of whānau, hapū and iwi for Māori education.
Mātauranga Iwi Leaders Group chair Rahui Papa says the findings reinforce concerns iwi leaders raised with the Government in November last year — particularly that improving outcomes for ākonga Māori requires meaningful engagement with Māori.
The group is especially critical of the Government’s curriculum rewrite and its Curriculum Ministerial Advisory Group. The Tribunal report found the advisory group included members who were either unenthusiastic about or openly hostile towards mātauranga Māori.
The Tribunal also questioned the Government’s move towards a science of learning and knowledge-rich curriculum, finding there was insufficient evidence that the approach would reduce existing inequities for Māori learners.
The Government has defended its education reforms as being focused on lifting achievement, including for Māori. Education Minister Erica Stanford has previously pointed to increased assessment, Māori-medium literacy initiatives, resources for kura and te reo Māori professional development as part of the Crown’s approach to improving Māori educational outcomes.
But the Mātauranga Iwi Leaders Group says educational excellence cannot be defined through a single model imposed by the Crown, particularly when the aspirations of Māori-medium and kaupapa Māori communities have not been adequately incorporated.
The group says it will now take further advice on the Tribunal’s findings, while maintaining that reducing educational inequity remains one of the most important ways of improving long-term outcomes for Māori.
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