By Bill Hickman of RNZ

David Seymour’s allegations that schools are encouraging students to attend an anti-Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi are “inflammatory” and unhelpful, principals say.

Last week, Seymour - the leader of the Act Party and the Associate Education Minister - said several schools were formally endorsing the hīkoi against his Bill, even organising buses to the gathering and allowing some students to miss exams.

The Ministry of Education also issued guidelines reminding schools and kura they were required to be politically neutral.

David Seymour said several schools were formally endorsing the hīkoi against his Bill, even organising buses to the gathering and allowing some students to miss exams. Photo / Marty Melville

The ministry bulletin told school leaders it was up to boards to determine whether an absence was justified or not. However, it said unless a student was engaged in school-organised activities related to their learning, their absence should be considered unjustified.

Secondary Principals Council head Kate Gainsford said schools had been bombarded with advice from the ministry, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and police about the potential for disruption related to the hīkoi.

She said much of the information - about safety and how best to manage delays - was useful and timely, but Seymour casting aspersions over schools’ neutrality on a political issue was unprecedented.

“Given his inflammatory comments and the timing of the advice that’s coming out, the amount of advice that’s coming out, and the focus of the advice coming out. It is open to the interpretation - absolutely - that the minister is using the Ministry of Education’s communications to advance a particular line that is of interest particularly to him,” Gainsford said.

Hikoi participants march in Hamilton on day four of a journey to Wellington to protest against various issues impacting Maori including the Act Party’s Treaty Principles Bill. Photo / Mike Scott

A statement from the Act Party last week encouraged parents to write to their school boards to remind them of their obligations for neutrality under the public service’s integrity and conduct standards.

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

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

“At the moment it’s still an expectation that schools honour and are partners in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It’s too late to turn back time to say to schools ‘okay now we don’t want you to honour that because it’s in the political arena’,” Otene said.

The president of the New Zealand Principals' Federation, Leanne Otene, said schools and their boards were self-governing and would independently determine whether a student’s absence was justified or otherwise. Photo / Mike Scott

Otene said schools and their boards were self-governing and would independently determine whether a student’s absence was justified or otherwise.

“There will be a lot of really disappointed principals and teachers at the way he has articulated his expectation. That he’s now threatened schools and he’s once again forgetting who is the community that has voted him in to serve.”

She said schools were not the police, and teachers and principals did everything possible to impress onto parents the importance of consistent attendance.

“We have been very clear with the ministry and the minister - as we’ve looked at the new attendance programme - that our relationships with whānau and our iwi and hapū in our school area will not be damaged by principals and teachers putting pressure on, or engaging in negative conversations with parents, around attendance.

“Our relationships with our communities are priority. If we want to have our parents seeing schools as positive places and have their children attending school.

“So I say to David Seymour, once again, our schools are self-managing. 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 not put that at risk.”

- RNZ