Despite staunch opposition from iwi and education leaders, Parliament has passed amendments to the Education and Training Act that remove the requirement for school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The amendment bill had its third reading in Parliament on Tuesday evening.
Education Minister Erica Stanford confirmed that she will meet with the National Iwi Chairs Forum (NICF) to discuss their concerns, saying her office is currently scheduling the hui.
“My staff are putting it in the diary at the moment,” she said.
The National Iwi Chairs Forum, backed by major national education sector organisations, has launched a petition opposing the repeal of section 127(2)(e), which currently requires school boards to honour Te Tiriti in their governance and decision-making.
NICF’s Pou Tangata Chair Rāhui Papa says iwi leaders were “deeply disappointed” by the late-stage change.
“After more than a year of formal engagement and consultation with the Government on their proposed changes to the Education and Training Act, we were deeply disappointed and concerned by the last-minute amendments to remove the school board objective requiring schools to give effect to Te Tiriti,” Papa said.
Papa says the amendment was not included in the proposals consulted on with the sector and public, and was instead introduced after consultation had closed.
“These amendments were never put out for consultation… and now it looks like those changes will be passed into law only a week after they were made public.”
The coalition supporting the petition represents 88 iwi and over 95,000 teachers, principals, schools, and kura.
Erica Stanford says the amendment does not change her commitment to improving education outcomes for students.
“My message to iwi chairs is that I take my responsibility and the Crown does under the Education Act in section 32 and other sections very seriously, which is why our entire work programme has been focused on lifting Māori achievement, and now we’re starting to see the fruits of some of that,” she said.
Section 32 of the Education and Training Act, which covers primary and secondary education.
ACT leader and Associate Education Minister David Seymour rejected claims that the change undermines Māori-Crown obligations.
“We are not taking anything away from anybody,” Seymour said.
“People can choose how they run their schools… but they have to respect others’ choices that they may not wish for their children’s education to be like an eternal marae visit.”
He said his relationship with iwi chairs has become strained in recent years, but said, “My door is open.”
Meanwhile, Te Pāti Māori says it stands in solidarity with NZEI Te Riu Roa, the National Iwi Chairs Forum, and kura who oppose the change.
The party says the removal of the requirement represented “Te Tiriti being torn from our education law.”
Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer described the amendment as “an act of ideological vandalism and a deliberate choice to silence the Māori Crown relationship in the one place every child passes through: our schools.”
Rawiri Waititi said the issue is not simply about wording but the foundations of partnership in Aotearoa.
“This is not a debate about policy wording. It is about power, partnership, and truth. Our educators are standing where this Government has failed, on the side of justice,” he said.
Te Pāti Māori says it will restore Te Tiriti protections to education law if it returns to Government.
“We stand proudly with every kura, every kaiako, and every whānau who refuse to let Te Tiriti be diminished,” Ngarewa-Packer said.
