John
Gerritsen, Education Correspondent
Two of
the boards that spoke out over the government’s axing of
their Treaty of Waitangi obligations say they are getting
strong support.
Some boards made public statements
reiterating their commitment to the Treaty after the
government announced it would cut a Treaty requirement from
the Education and Training Act.
It was not clear how
many of the more than 2000 state schools had made a
statement.
However, tallies kept by the School Boards
Association and lawyer Tania Waikato showed more than 200
schools had written to the Education Minister Erica Stanford
or confirmed they would continue to uphold the treaty and
the number was growing.
The association expected that
number to rise because most boards would not have met since
the government last week announced that it would cut the
Treaty obligation this week.
The board of Dyer Street
School in the Hutt Valley said upholding the Treaty was the
right thing to do for its students.
The board’s
presiding member Matt Weldon-Smith told RNZ the school wrote
its own statement.
He said the Treaty was important to
the school.
“I know it’s a bit of a political
football, but it’s not really a political issue to us. It
feels more like an ethical, educational one. So, that
honouring Te Tiriti ensures every child feels valued,
respected and represented in their learning,” he
said.
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Weldon-Smith said community reaction has been
incredibly positive.
“It’s clearly touched people and
it’s been one of probably our most reactive messages we put
out this year,” he said.
“Looking at the comments…
it’s almost overwhelmingly positive and
supportive.”
The board of Queens High in Dunedin said
in an online statement its commitment to the Treaty was not
a compliance exercise.
Its presiding member Kate
Keddell told RNZ the Treaty was fundamental for schools in
an inclusive society.
“What it means for us is that
when we are making decisions, we look at them through a lens
of equity and cultural responsiveness and inclusion,” she
said.
She said the school made a public statement to
assure its community that it followed through on what it
said.
Keddell said the school had about 600 students
and reaction from its community was positive.
“As at
this afternoon I can see 1600 engagements,” she
said.
“If you look at the emojis as a data point,
there’s only one angry red face and the rest in that number
– 912 loves, 745 thumbs-up, 14 caring signs, and one sadness
emoji. So that’s quite a a snapshot of affirmation for our
community.”
Meanwhile, a petition by the Iwi Chairs
Forum calling for reinstatement of the Treaty clause had
13,275 signatures by late Thursday afternoon.
The
government has said the Treaty is an obligation for the
Crown, not schools.
It said schools should be focused
on ensuring high achievement for all students, not on
figuring out how to give effect to the
Treaty.
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