Bill of Agreement Principles: David Seymour’s ‘provocative’ allegations about students taking part in hīkoi

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 regarding his/her education, his/her absence will continue. 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 is using Department for Education communications to advance a particular line that concerns him specifically,” Gainsford said.

A statement from the Act Party last week encouraged parents to write to school boards to remind 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.

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

“Currently, it is 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 this 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 are going to be a lot of principals and teachers who are really disappointed in the way he expressed his expectations. He said he was now threatening schools and had once again forgotten who the community that voted to serve him was.

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 that our relationships with the ministry and the minister, with whānau and with 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.

“I say again to David Seymour that our schools are self-governing. “We know what is best for our young people – when it comes to teaching and learning – and our relationships with our community are paramount and we will not risk that.”

-RNZ