The release of New Zealand’s draft primary and intermediate school curriculum has sparked outrage among educators, with the Principals Federation and several subject associations condemning the documents as outdated, foreign-influenced, and dismissive of Māori knowledge.
According to a report by RNZ, the Ministry of Education published draft curriculum documents overnight for six learning areas: science, technology, social sciences, learning languages, the arts, and health and physical education. These follow the rollout of the new English and maths curricula earlier this year, though the maths version was substantially rewritten just last week.
Principals Federation president Leanne Otene said her members had lost complete trust in the ministry after last week’s major changes to the maths curriculum and the release of the latest drafts.
“I wouldn’t say we’re on the verge of revolt, I think we’ve passed that, to be quite frank,” Otene said. “The words coming through in my emails are ‘disgusted’, ‘ridiculous’. It’s now at the point where it feels like they’re ruining our education. We’ve lost total trust,” reported RNZ.
Otene accused the ministry of ignoring teacher feedback and said the federation would independently collect and submit its own consultation data to ensure educators’ voices were heard.
She also said Te Mataiaho, the guiding framework for the new curriculum, had “sidelined” the Treaty of Waitangi, undermining one of the core foundations of New Zealand’s education system, RNZ quoted.
“Inclusion and giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi have long been foundational principles. Now they are not even core expectations, making this feel like a foreign document,” she said, as quoted by RNZ.
Drama Teachers Association president Annette Thomson criticised the draft arts curriculum for offering only token recognition of Māori arts and perspectives.
“It’s devoid of meaningful indigenous knowledge,” Thomson said. “References to te ao haka are scattered under performance categories, not grounded or contextualised. It’s clearly not been written by New Zealanders, nor in partnership with tangata whenua as required under the Education Act,” RNZ reported.
Thomson said the curriculum showed “a complete misunderstanding” of arts education, reducing dance and drama to performance training and ignoring their broader developmental role.
“We’re not training actors, we’re developing empathy, teamwork, and creativity. This draft narrows that vision and pushes us backwards,” she added, as reported by RNZ.
Technology Education New Zealand chair Hamish Johnston described the draft technology curriculum as “a major step backwards,” saying it reduced depth and eliminated key content by merging separate strands of study.
He also raised concerns about the proposed weekly timetable, which allocates eight hours to English and maths, but only four and a half to technology, arts, and health and PE combined.
In health and physical education, Health Education Association chair Leigh Morgan said she doubted teachers would have enough time to cover the expected material and criticised the reduction of mātauranga Māori.
She also noted that, for the first time in decades, the curriculum refers to sex education rather than relationships and sexuality education.
Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa called the new draft “regressive and fractured,” warning that limiting mandatory teaching to consent education left students vulnerable.
“If young people aren’t given evidence-based information, they’ll turn to unreliable sources. This draft sidesteps critical issues, leaving major gaps in their knowledge,” the organisation said, RNZ reported.
The Ministry of Education defended the drafts, insisting consultation was ongoing.
“The arts continues to be an essential learning area,” said Pauline Cleaver, deputy secretary at Te Poutāhū. “We’ve met with arts and drama teachers this week and will keep working with them to shape the final version,” RNZ reported
However, the Educational Institute Te Riu Roa joined the growing chorus of criticism, calling the drafts “rushed, Eurocentric, and out of step with Aotearoa’s unique educational identity.”
As teachers’ unions and associations prepare formal responses, the Ministry faces increasing pressure to halt implementation and rebuild trust with the education sector before the final version is released.
ISSUE
Leave a Comment