Māori and non-Māori education leaders gathered in Wellington today for Te Akapūmau, a summit focused on protecting and advancing Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the education sector.
The hui took place against what participants described as a backdrop of escalating concern about government policy changes that they say erode the Treaty’s place in the education system.
The summit, organised by Te Akatea – the Māori Principals’ Association – brought together leaders from across the sector who say they are united in their determination to resist the dismantling of decades of progress.
Jepsen: erosion of Te Tiriti cannot be ignored
Te Akatea chief executive Bruce Jepsen said Te Akapūmau was not simply another conference but a deliberate act of resistance.
He warned that the Treaty’s standing in education is being “eroded” through a raft of policy changes.
“We’ve seen the removal of Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori as professional learning and development for teachers. We’ve seen te reo Māori and kupu Māori taken out of early readers. We’ve seen the National Education and Learning Priorities removed in November. These things are being fast-tracked with limited consultation.”
Jepsen said the sector was speaking with one voice, and that message was clear.
“It’s really heartwarming to see the sector actually one voice, the notion of te kotahitanga, loud and clear. We value Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a cornerstone and foundation of our constitution here in Aotearoa. It’s a strong reminder to our government of their responsibility.”
He said Te Akapūmau was about finding solutions and leaving with an action plan:
“We didn’t come here for a talk. We came here to find solutions and to determine how we are going to preserve the positionality of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, how we are going to give effect to that, together as the sector.”
Finlayson urges civility, draws pushback
Former National Cabinet Minister Chris Finlayson, a keynote speaker, told the gathering he feared that the government and educators were “talking past each other” and that debate was becoming dominated by accusations.
He argued that recent allegations of white supremacy or recolonisation were “not, in my view, the right way to engage.”
“That’s what I call the ‘Rojas Casa’ approach to argumentation, abuse instead of mastering the arguments of the other side. There’s too much of that today.”
Finlayson urged educators to “steer away from hyperbole” and instead “master the detail” and “engage in civilised debate.” But he also strongly endorsed the revitalisation of te reo Māori.
“I believe in te reo revitalisation. It is the right thing to do, but also a wise thing to do educationally. The more languages you learn, the more languages you can learn.”
He concluded by stressing that “civility, engagement, patience, detail” should define the sector’s approach, not “megaphone diplomacy.”
NZEI Te Riu Roa vice-president Raewyn Himona, teacher at Haeata Community Campus, said Finlayson’s call for civility did not resonate with many at the hui.
“Ahakoa e mea ana ia kia kaha ake te noho ‘civil’, kei te tū motuhake mātou i runga i tō mātou ake rangatiratanga. Koirā te hiahia. Me whakarongo ki te hāpori, ki ngā kaiako, ki ngā kura. Kei te mōhio pū mātou i ngā rongoā.”
She said some kaiako had reached breaking point on what she calls a significant shift in education.
“Ki a au nei, koinei te wā hei wānanga mō tō tātou nei Tiriti, te Tiriti o Waitangi. Koinei te wā kia wānanga, kia whakawhiti kōrero. Kia whakaputa i ngā wero, kia whakarongo ki ngā rongoā, kia whai rongoā, kia whai hua.”
Himona added that teachers were clear, the government was not listening to the voices of educators, whānau, or Māori communities.
“Kua hōhā mātou ngā kaiako. Kāore tēnei kāwanatanga i te whakarongo ki ngā hiahia o te hapori, o ngā mokopuna Māori.”
She described the policy shifts as a deliberate diminishment.
“Ko te pēhitanga, ko te whakaiti tangata, ko te whakaiti kaiako, ko te whakaiti i te iwi… Kei te whakaiti rātou i te mana o ngā hapori, o ngā whānau. He momo kaupapa ēnei kaupapa here. He whakaiti tēnei.”
Jepsen also pushed back on Finlayson’s framing, saying Māori and the sector had every right to describe government policies as they experienced them.
“As far as I’m concerned, Māori will have an opinion and they have to express it. If actions, particular actions or systems, represent a set of behaviours, then we have to describe them as they are and be accurate in the terms we’re using.”
A call to government
The summit also launched Equity, Where is it?, a report by Huia Kaimanawa for the Ministry of Education, drawing on interviews and surveys of Māori education leaders about equity in the system.
For Himona, the gathering was both a show of unity and a demand for change.
“Kei te kōrero Māori te katoa o tēnei whenua, kei te whakanui mātou i ngā mea ahurei pērā ki a Matariki, ka pēnei me haere tonu. Kei te tū mātou hei poutokomanawa mō ngā mokopuna.”
Te Akatea said the hui concluded with a sector-owned action plan that leaders will now take back into their kura, schools, and institutions. Jepsen described it as “paving the way forward” for protecting Te Tiriti in education over the next two decades.
Te Ao News asked the Education Minister, Erica Stanford, to comment on Te Akapūmau and the issues raised by Te Akatea, but her office said she had no comment to make.
