Meredith Kennett: NZ School Boards Association President on the Education Minister removing school board Treaty requirements

Unions have voiced disappointment over the Education Minister's plan to remove school board Treaty requirements.

Erica Stanford intends to scrap a clause under which boards must reflect local tikanga in the curriculum - and teach te reo Māori.

The PPTA labelled it another step in the Government's apparent drive to take the country back 50 years

NZ School Boards Association President, Meredith Kennett, says putting it in legislation ensures school policies consider the history of children and their whanau.

"Allow us to connect with local iwi - and making sure that this school is fit for purpose for our children, because our children need to belong. And if they don't feel like they do, then they won't achieve." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good afternoon.

Speaker 2 (00:00):
Education unions are reacting badly to Erica Stanford's decision to
remove treaty obligations from school board legislation. The Education Minister
says boards should be more focused on making sure kids
turn up to school rather than carrying out the Crown's
treaty responsibilities with us. Now, as the school Board Association
president Meredith kennet hime, Meredith, what's your take on this?

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Yeah, pretty much exactly, well, exactly what the unions have
said this afternoon is that, you know, I think even
if we focus on the responsibility of getting our children
to school and attendance and achievement, a part of that
is understanding the whole child, and that is also understanding
our responsibility to Tetariti.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Okay, how does give me an example of how this
being in legislation actually changes what a school board does.

Speaker 3 (00:47):
I think it just allows the school board to focus
on making sure that they are covering the things that
they need to cover, because for a school board, you
have a bunch of caring people who come together and
are elected to do a job, and they need to
be given quite explicit instructions of what things they need
to fulfill and whether it on that list, then it

(01:08):
stays front and send different school boards.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yeah, but like what would they do, what would they
really understand?

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah, to make sure that things like our policies and
our procedures really consider the history of our children, really
consider where farno are coming from. Allows us to connect
with local EWI and making sure that the school is
fit for purpose for our children. Because our children need
to belong and if they don't feel like they do,

(01:35):
then they won't to achieve.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
What's the benefit of a school board connecting with local EWI.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
To allow them to make sure that the local faro
of children are connected to the history of the local area,
to understand, you know, where things come from in the
place that they are learning, and just to feel that
sense of way back in time, there was always a
saying of people having to leave their culture at the

(02:01):
door and making sure that we give effect to test
eating means that our young people are not having to
do that.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
And so how is a school board going to make
sure that there is this connection to the history of
the place by meeting with the EWE. How are they
going to practically do that?

Speaker 3 (02:17):
Well, for many schools that involves inviting their ee in
when they're looking at things like their strategic direction and
their plan, so whatever goals that they're having to make
sure that both the community and the local ere in
it all our lines Meredith. So that's part of it.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Shouldn't the goal just be educated as many of these
children as possible, make sure they're turning up to school
every single day.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
Yeah, And a part of that is so the end
that we connect to the end. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
It's biggier than that, is it though?

Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yeah? I think my school boards think it is, and
along with all the unions.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
All right, Meredith, Thanks very much, Meredith Kennett, school Board Association.
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