Government breached the Treaty during Tomorrow’s Schools review

The Crown has been found to have breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi during the 2018 – 2022 education review and reform by failing to consider or involve kura kaupapa Māori.

The tribunal released a report recently following an urgent inquiry into the Tomorrow’s Schools review. It ruled the Crown breached “Treaty principles of partnership and active protection in several instances during the Tomorrow’s Schools review and reform”.  

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Failures included insufficient consultation with kura kaupapa Māori and Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa (Te Rūnanga Nui), the nationally representative organisation for kura kaupapa Māori.  

The tribunal also found a failure to appoint a member with sufficient expertise in kaupapa Māori, and insufficient involvement of Kura Kaupapa Māori and Te Rūnanga Nui in several areas of key policy development. 

These breaches caused “considerable prejudice to the claimants, including that the claimants do not have the powers they should, under the Treaty partnership, to shape policy applicable to Kura Kaupapa Māori Te Aho Matua,” ruled the tribunal.  

It recommended a standalone Kaupapa Māori authority be established, a co-design of specific policies for Kura Kaupapa Māori and a “reset” between the Ministry of Education and Te Rūnanga Nui.  

The report and ruling follows an urgent claim filed by Te Rūnanga Nui cochair Cathy Dewes in October 2021. Dewes had previously told media that the Ministry of Education continues to control the decisions of Te Rūnanga Nui, “insisting on doing things their way as opposed to doing it our way, which we know to be the right way for our people.”