The Education Minister has announced school extra-curricular activities including sports and kapa haka are not subject to vaccine passes.
“I encourage every young person who is eligible to be vaccinated, but I also believe if you haven't been vaccinated it shouldn't stop you being able to access education and that means access all of the activities that go with being at school,” Education Minister Chris Hipkins said.
“The rules, being interpreted creates strange outcomes. It means if you're playing sport at lunch, that’s okay, but if you’re playing sport after the bell rings at three o’clock, that’s not okay because it’s no longer a school activity.”
“We never intended for that to be the case so we're clarifying that,” he said.
A spokesperson for the minister said further details on the change are still being worked on and an update was likely next week.
Hipkins said gatherings at training, games and cultural activities will still be capped to 100 people.
He said 92 per cent of secondary students are fully vaccinated.
Mana College principal John Murdoch welcomed the news.
“It’s been difficult not being able to actively involve in these things, it’s going to really give us a chance to bring a sort spirit and an energy back into the school,” Murdoch said.
School Sport New Zealand chief executive Mike Summerell said guidance provided to schools in line with the Covid Protection Framework red setting to only allow 25 students to gather if vaccine passes are not used was informed by information from Government agencies.
“I’d certainly question the timing of the Minister’s comments,” Summerell said.
“What it’s done in a vacuum of information and detail that sports organisations like us need to interpret and implement this, we've faced a barrage of questions today and quite rightly from many corners asking for clarity - we just haven’t been able to give it so we really look forward to that detail as much as everybody else.”
New Zealand Principals’ Federation national president Cherie Taylor-Patel said the conflicting guidelines have been a source of frustration.
“It's just being able to navigate how this is going to work and if you’ve got schools that are working in the club environment, which rules apply,” she said.
“I would just like to say that it’s really hard to develop one set of guidelines that cover every sporting situation that you’re going to find yourself in, so I really do appreciate that while the confusion has happened, it’s very understandable… but it’s perhaps going to be an ongoing issue."
One mum who didn’t want to be identified says the news has come too late for her child, who has been left disappointed they can’t participate.
“Teams have been selected, they’ve already had their first games or two and they’re not going to be able to shuffle people around like double the workload to then reintegrate some," she said.
"Are the ones coming in going to feel very welcomed cause they’ve now kicked some others out, or feel completely ostracised and don’t want to for fear of upsetting the water."
The mum said the situation has created more confusion and more work for schools.
“Schools are the ones that are trying to do the best.
“There was no explicit communication because no schools wanted to say, ‘we’ve actually chosen this.’”
“Now the Government’s now saying, ‘that wasn’t… we never said that’; no, but you made it so difficult that they felt they had no other option but to make it passported because of peoples’ concerns and fears.”
Rugby New Zealand community rugby general manager Steve Lancaster said in a press release the organisation welcomed the clarity on the guidelines for school sport, but they wants to see the guidance for club sport reviewed too.
"Many participants, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, are involved in sport through other outlets such as clubs and we don’t want this group to inadvertently miss out if the focus is only on school sport."
He said over 65,000 children play rugby at club level, with some in regional unions and school rugby operating in grades within the club rugby system.
"Our young people have experienced so much disruption for a number of years now and we’re concerned about the long-term impacts that missing out on sport will have," Lancaster saide.
Hipkins said the changes were about “trying to get the balance right".
“Clubs make their own decisions about whether or not they’re offering an unvaccinated option for those young people who won’t have been vaccinated, they can do that now… they obviously have to comply with different rules when they’re doing that, that’s ultimately over to the clubs,” he said.
Hipkins said club sport feedback has included hesitancy about having unvaccinated people participate and concern others won’t take part if unvaccinated people do.
He said the focus was ensuring a student’s education wasn’t disrupted by their vaccine status.
“As the Prime Minister set out just recently, we do expect to be in a position that we’ll be able to ease some of the vaccination requirements once we get through this next peak of the Omicron outbreak."
"Then things like club sports heading into winter may well find that they’re subject to less disruption than they might be expecting at the moment.”
A spokesperson for Sport New Zealand said the change will allow for more physical activity at school, which is valuable for student fitness and personal wellbeing.
"Access to school sport has been enabled here to ensure all children can take an active part of school life, be that participation in sports, arts or cultural activities," the spokesperson said.
The Government department will be creating advice to support schools and venues with the change once the details are confirmed.
"These changes will not come into effect immediately," the spokesperson said.
"Officials are currently working on the necessary legal changes and we understand this will be done within the next fortnight."
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