Te Akatea Māori First has welcomed the Waitangi Tribunal’s findings on the Government’s national curriculum reforms, saying they validate concerns Māori education leaders have raised throughout the reset.
The Tribunal found the Crown breached several Treaty principles in developing its knowledge-rich curriculum, including through a lack of meaningful engagement and consensus-building with Māori. It also found the Crown proceeded without sufficient evidence the approach would reduce existing inequities for Māori learners.
Te Akatea, which represents Māori principals and education leaders, says the findings reinforce its concerns about the direction of the curriculum and the need for Māori to have a meaningful role in decisions affecting ākonga Māori.
The Tribunal also found the reforms reduced emphasis on te reo Māori, tikanga and mātauranga Māori, while the amount of prescribed content and mandatory teaching time could restrict teachers’ ability to meaningfully incorporate te ao Māori into classroom learning.
For Māori-medium and kaupapa Māori education, the Tribunal recommended the Crown return to working in partnership with Māori to develop a genuinely indigenous curriculum through Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.
The findings add further pressure to the national debate over the curriculum reset ahead of Election 2026, with Māori education leaders arguing the issue is not simply what tamariki are taught, but whether whānau, hapū and iwi have a meaningful role in shaping the education system.
The Government has defended its wider curriculum reforms as part of its drive for a clearer, knowledge-rich national curriculum focused on lifting achievement and consistency across schools.
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