Draft Treaty Principles: Seymour’s claims that hīkoi students were ‘provocative’

ACT leader David Seymour is an advocate for the Treaty Principles Bill.
Photograph: RNZ / Marika Khabazi

David Seymour’s allegations that schools encourage students to take a course Anti-Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi Managers say it’s “provocative” and unhelpful.

Last week, Seymour, leader of the ACT Party and deputy education minister, said many schools had formally endorsed hīkoi against his bill, even arranging buses to meet and allowing some students to miss exams.

The Ministry of Education also issued guidelines reminding schools and courses that they must be politically neutral.

The ministry bulletin told school leaders it was up to boards to decide whether absences were justified. However, it was stated that if a student does not participate in activities organized by the school related to his/her education, his/her absence should be considered unfair.

Kate Gainsford, president of the Council of Secondary School Principals, said the schools were bombarded on advice from the ministry, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and police about the potential for hīkoi-related disruption.

He said most of the information about safety and how to best manage delays was useful and up-to-date, but Seymour’s smearing of schools’ impartiality on a political issue was unprecedented.

“Given his provocative comments and the timing of the advice that came out, the amount of advice that came out and the focus of the advice that came out. It is – absolutely – open to the interpretation that the Minister used Department of Education communications,” Gainsford said, “to proceed along a particular line that concerned him specifically.”

A statement from the ACT Party last week encouraged parents to write to school boards reminding them of their obligation to impartiality under standards of public service integrity and conduct.

“Parents can also consider whether their representatives on the school board deserve re-election,” the statement said.

Leanne Otene.
Photograph: Provided

Principals’ Federation president Leanne Otene said Seymour had “seriously underestimated” the importance of Te Tiriti to schools, whānau and communities.

“Right now it’s still an expectation for schools to honor and partner with Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It’s too late to turn back the clock to say to schools ‘okay now we don’t want you to honor that because it’s in the political arena,'” Otene said.

Otene said schools and their boards are self-governing and will independently decide whether a student’s absence is justified.

“There will be a lot of principals and teachers who are truly disappointed in the way he voiced his expectations. He has now threatened schools and once again forgotten who the community is that voted for him to serve.”

Schools are not the police, he said, and teachers and principals do everything possible to explain to parents the importance of consistent attendance.

“When we looked at the new engagement programme, we made it very clear to the ministry and the minister that our relationships with whānau and our iwi and hapū in our school district would not be damaged by headteachers and teachers putting pressure on us or having negative conversations with parents about engagement.

“Our relationships with our communities are a priority. If we want our parents to see schools as positive places and for their children to go to school.

“So I say again to David Seymour, our schools are self-governing. We know what’s best for our young people when it comes to teaching and learning, and our relationships with our community are paramount, and we will never ignore that risk.”