Waitangi Tribunal releases report on Kura Kaupapa Māori, finding several breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi

The Waitangi Tribunal has released Kei Ahotea Te Aho Matua, a report on the urgent claim regarding Kura Kaupapa Māori.

The claim was brought in 2022 on behalf of Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa (the body which oversees Kura Kaupapa Māori) and concerns Crown policies, acts, and omissions in relation to Kura Kaupapa, and in particular the detrimental impact of the Crown’s Tomorrow’s Schools review and reform process which took place between 2018 and 2022.

The claimants alleged that the Crown failed to work as a Treaty partner in relation to the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms, and that the Crown’s reforms would negatively impact Kura Kaupapa Māori by subsuming them within mainstream school systems. The claimants further alleged that the Crown failed to meaningfully engage with Te Rūnanga Nui regarding the issues facing Kura Kaupapa Māori.

In its report, the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Crown breached the Treaty in several instances during the Tomorrow’s Schools reform process.

The Tribunal found that the Crown failed to implement the policy and strategy to meet needs of Kura Kaupapa Māori, in breach of the principles of partnership, equity, active protection, and options.

Further, final policy decisions impacting Kura Kaupapa Māori were not shared with Te Rūnanga Nui, in breach of the principles of partnership and active protection.

The Tribunal found that the Treaty breaches caused considerable prejudice to the claimants.

The Tribunal therefore made several recommendations, including that the Crown:

• Apologise to the claimants for its breaches of the Treaty;
• Work with the claimants to improve the relationship between the Ministry of Education and Te Rūnanga Nui; and
• Work with the claimants to co-design specific policies for Kura Kaupapa Māori.

In the long-term, the Tribunal recommended that the Crown work with Māori stakeholders to establish a stand-alone Kaupapa Māori education authority.

The report has been written in te reo Māori. English versions of chapters 3 to 7 of the report have been included as an appendix. You can read more here.