Work on a Māori education review is continuing without the involvement of four key Kura Kaupapa initiatives, which are instead calling for a parallel Māori education pathway to be led by them as a collective.
Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis on Wednesday announced work would soon begin on a "revamp" of the Māori medium and Kaupapa Māori Pathways programme.
It means legislation will likely be introduced in early 2023, aimed at seeing 30 per cent of Māori learners participating in Kaupapa Māori/Māori medium education by 2040.
Davis said the work would be overseen by an independent Māori education panel named Te Pae Roa.
But four key Kura Kaupapa initiatives were missing from the panel's announcement. Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori, Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust, Ngā Kura-ā-Iwi and Te Tauihu o Ngā Wānanga were involved in earlier discussions with the Government on the education pathway.
Davis said discussions with the group - who are working together as a collective under Te Matakahuki - lasted around 14 months, and concluded at the end of 2021 when they declined to participate any further.
"What I was offering was the opportunity to develop the system for Māori mediums/Kaupapa Māori education, I offered for them to lead it, to drive it," Davis told media on Tuesday. "They ultimately at the end of last year declined to participate."
Four spaces for each individual group had since been reserved on the panel.
But in a statement released on Thursday, Te Matakahuki said its position was clear: "That the focus of Te Matakahuki is to find solutions designed by Māori, for Māori, delivered by Māori.
"To say that there should not be a Māori education authority undermines the independence of the Te Pae Roa consultation process."
The collective said it couldn't comfortably work alongside an education system which had continued to fail Māori.
"This compromises Te Matakahuki and is what leads to a continued disparity of funding, lack of learning resources and various other unequitable outcomes faced by our collective.
Associate Minister of Education said Te Matakāhuki declined the offer and instead made an urgent Waitangi Tribunal claim. (Source: 1News)
"Te Matakahuki absolutely support the investment into Māori learners in the mainstream education system, our kaupapa in part was borne from families establishing Māori education institutes as a response to the lack of confidence in that very system.
"We however will not accept the homogenising of our Kaupapa Māori institutes by treating both the Māori medium within mainstream education and Te Matakahuki pathways unilaterally. The contexts are very different."
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori in October 2021 filed an urgent Waitangi Tribunal claim alleging the Crown had breached its obligations to Kura Kaupapa, calling for a by Māori, for Māori authority.
They are advocating for an education pathway that protects Te Aho Matua, a philosophical framework legislated through the Education (Te Aho Matua) Amendment Act 1999, which guides the operations of Kura Kaupapa Māori.
Te Matakahuki also has two other individual Waitangi Tribunal claims - Te Kōhanga Reo Wai 2336 and Te Wānanga o Raukawa Wai 2698.
"Throughout each of our claims a common thread exists, the Government continues to attempt to assimilate our institutes into the mainstream, inconsistent with the principle of protection afforded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi," the Te Matakahuki statement read.
"The formation of this collective was borne from the need to work together for the overall benefit of te reo Māori and Te Ao Māori, creating a culturally safe environment for our leaders of tomorrow."
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