The Government’s Attack on Treaty of Waitangi Obligations for Schools

As you will have seen, our racist government, under the thrall of David Seymour and Erica Stanford, and fulfilling the dreams of Elizabeth Rata, has announced that it will be removing all Te Tiriti obligations from school Boards of Trustees. I’m sure that everyone who voted for National last election is comfortable with this, as it was well signalled in National’s policies during the election campaign…. Yeah, right. 

How do you feel now? Buyer’s regret yet?

The Aotearoa Educators Collective (AEC) have been extremely busy attacking the disastrous moves on education, and I will highlight some of their publications in future articles.

Today, however, I want to highlight their article about the removal of the Tiriti obligations and which asks for public help to try to overturn this.

AEC- A public service announcement!

“Protect Te Tiriti o Waitangi! Protect Our Children’s Future!”

“The Government is about to pass the Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2) – legislation, among other directives, that removes the legal requirement for school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

As reported by the NZ Herald, “the Government will remove the requirement for school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.” (NZ Herald, 2025).

This is not a symbolic edit. It is a fundamental dismantling of what makes our education system inclusive, equitable, and uniquely Aotearoa New Zealand.

It will have a ripple effect, influencing curriculum design, assessment, funding priorities, and ultimately, how schools define and measure “success.

Why this matters

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is not a “nice-to-have.” It is the moral and legal foundation that ensures Māori students, and by extension, all students, can learn in ways that honour their identity, language, culture, and wellbeing.

Removing Te Tiriti from the Education Act will:

• • Silence Māori voice at the board table – where decisions about our schools’ direction are made.

• • Erode equity by turning back decades of progress toward fair outcomes for Māori learners.

• • Reduce local autonomy and replace community-driven education with a one-size-fits-all national model.

• • Re-centre schools around compliance and standardised “achievement”, rather than creativity, care, and belonging.

When Te Tiriti is sidelined, the wellbeing of all of our tamariki is sidelined too.”

As I, and many others, have been pointing out, this is no sudden impulsive accident. This is the agenda of the New Zealand Initiative, especially Elizabeth Rata, but, bigger than that, it is the agenda of the Atlas Network, who attack anything that can be seen as benefiting indigenous people. The referendum in Australia a year or so ago to change the Australian constitution to acknowledge the place of the Aboriginal people was very strongly attacked by the Atlas Network and the referendum’s failure was almost certainly a result of their fear mongering.

For their right wing, neoliberal agenda to work in New Zealand, removing Te Tiriti is a vital goal for them. Education is the battle field now, however you can be sure that they will not stop there. Their ultimate aim, surely, will be to remove all aspects of Te Tiriti from New Zealand legislation, thus meeting Elizabeth Rata’s vision of ending decolonisation.

The damage these changes will do to our young people

Because if we allow this shift (without challenge) the consequences will cascade:

• • By making educational achievement the overriding goal, we risk forcing schools to chase narrow metrics (test scores, pass rates) at the expense of holistic, human-centred education. Students who don’t “fit” the mainstream mould — those with learning differences, trauma, socio-economic stress, cultural disconnection — will be left even further behind.

• • When equitable outcomes for Māori become a “supporting objective” rather than an embedded promise, we weaken the alliance of Te Tiriti. We risk perpetuating the entrenched disparities in education, rather than disrupting them. As one analyst writes in The Spinoff, “By promoting one objective as ‘paramount’, you demote all others.”

• • When local curricula are sidelined in favour of nationalised “programmes,” we risk losing relevance, cultural responsiveness, and community voice. That means students who thrive when their identity and context are honoured may disengage, or feel unseen.

• • These structural shifts will ripple into curriculum design, assessment, funding priorities and the day-to-day life of schools. If the mass incentive is achievement above all, everything else (wellbeing, creativity, cultural identity, belonging, critical thinking) becomes collateral.

• • Ultimately, we risk a two-tier system: those who can navigate the new “achievement” regime, and those who cannot. Our mission of inclusive excellence and pastoral care, which we hold dear, becomes harder — and for some students, almost impossible.”

That lays the issues out very clearly. We need to be mindful that the percentage of Māori children in our schools is increasing and this move by the government disenfranchises them, which, I suspect and fear, is their agenda. 

“We cannot stay silent

This Bill signals a clear message from the government: education is to be measured, not nurtured.

But we, parents, whānau, educators, and community members, can send a louder one:

We do not accept an education system that turns its back on Te Tiriti o Waitangi!”

So here’s where you can do your bit for our children – are you willing to let Seymour, Stanford, and the rest, to steal their future? Anything legal move they make can and will be undone by a future Labour led government, however the damage to the culture of our country won’t so easily repaired. Trust is a fragile thing, very hard to build yet can be broken in a second,

“What you can do – starting today

• • Share this message. Talk about it at home, online, and in your communities. Post it, print it, spread it.

• • Support your school leaders. Principals and boards need your backing to speak up publicly. Encourage them and stand beside them when they do.

• • Write to your local MP. Tell them you oppose removing Te Tiriti from the Education Act. Make it clear this is not negotiable.

• • Write or sign open letters. Use your voice to remind decision-makers that education is about people, not politics.

• • Join peaceful protests and community actions. Visibility matters; let Parliament see that Aotearoa New Zealand will not quietly accept the erasure of Te Tiriti from our schools.

This is a turning point

Our education system once led the world because it was human-centred, not political, because it honoured partnership, not power.

If we allow this Bill to pass without resistance, we tell our children that Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the values it upholds, no longer matter in the places where they learn, grow, and dream.

Let’s ensure they inherit classrooms that reflect who we are: a nation built on partnership, care, and collective strength.

Kia tū, kia kaha, kia manawanui.

Stand up. Speak out. Support your schools. Protect Te Tiriti. Protect our future.”