Chopping of Treaty material from curriculum draws fire

Te Ururoa Flavell

The removal of specific reference to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in the national school curriculum has drawn Maori Party ire.

A new draft curriculum was unveiled on Monday, and while it does mention the Treaty in a handful of places, an overarching statement about it has gone.

Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell said yesterday that the omission was an "utter outrage". He asked if Labour was adopting the one-law-for-all policies of arch-rival National.

"While National has been talking about those sorts of things, Labour has actually moved to implement them. From our perspective it's a little bit worrying," Mr Flavell said.

The present primary and secondary school curriculum contains a set of overarching principles.

One states that "the New Zealand curriculum recognises the signifi-cance of the Treaty of Waitangi", and goes on to say that the curriculum "will recognise and value the unique position of Maori in New Zealand society".

The new draft makes passing mentions of the Treaty but does not contain the overarching statement.

One mention of the Treaty does come in level-five social science teaching, where it is noted that the Treaty is responded to differently by people in different times and places.

In level-two social science teaching, the new curriculum notes that the "role of Maori as tangata whenua is significant for communities in New Zealand".

Associate Education Minister Parekura Horomia came under pressure to explain the change in Parliament yesterday, and he argued that the new curriculum reflected New Zealand's "bicultural heritage and its multicultural society".

"What it does do is enhance the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and it ensures, through the actions in the schools and through the support of this Government for Maori language, that they will be there for a long, long time," Mr Horomia said.

A spokesman for Education Minister Steve Maharey said that while the new draft document did not make specific reference to the principles of the Treaty, it did acknowledge the place of Maori in New Zealand society.

He said Maori were represented on the reference group that guided the development of the document, and the draft was also studied by "key Maori academics".

The draft curriculum is expected to be finalised late next year.