Minister of Education Erica Stanford. Photo:
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has refused to accept claims the government is reducing mentions of the Treaty of Waitangi in education documents.
Principals and teachers have repeatedly told RNZ there are noticeably fewer Māori words and Treaty references in documents, including new and draft curriculum statements.
At a conference in Wellington this week, attendees warned the changes risked sidelining Māori and losing years of progress.
But Stanford totally rejected the allegations.
"We are committed to the treaty and commitment to the treaty means raising achievement for tamariki Māori," she said.
"For too long we have had a yawning gap of achievement between tamariki Māori and everybody else in this country, and that is not good enough. Every single thing I have done as the minister is to reduce that gap, whether that's through structured literacy, structured maths, all of the resources we're pumping into the frontline."
Stanford said schools using structured literacy and structured maths had noted accelerated learning for their Māori students.
"They're now learning at the average rather than behind."
Stanford said the government had also produced more resources in te reo than ever before.
"There is professional learning and development specifically designed for kura kaupapa and rumaki units that we're rolling out across the country because we are committed to a bilingual education system and to revitalisation of te reo Māori.
"Anyone who says opposite to that I definitely do not agree with."
At a conference organised by Te Akatea - the Māori principals' association - in Wellington this week, president Bruce Jepsen said reduced use of te reo and references to the Treaty was noticeable on an almost daily basis.
"The sector has noticed this, it's not just myself."
Jepsen said educators were trying to work together to protect the role of the Treaty in education. He said it was important because the Treaty was the cornerstone of the constitution and ensured both Māori and non-Māori had a good education.
Former attorney-general and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Chris Finlayson KC, told the conference the Education Act included numerous references to the Treaty, but many were formulaic "box-ticking".
He said attendees and the government were "talking past each other".
Finlayson also warned against the use of hyperbole such as the term "white supremacist".
That was a clear reference to Te Akatea's angry reaction last month to the government's decision not to reprint a book for learner readers in a small-book format because of concerns its six Māori words did not fit the sequence in which children were taught to decode words.
The book would instead be printed in a large format for teachers to read with their classes.
Prominent academic distinguished professor Graeme Hingangaroa Smith warned the conference that any push for a "level playing field" in education would ensure current equity gaps continued.
He said teachers should demand to know who was deciding changes to the education system and why.
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