NZEI Te Riu Roa has asked Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche to investigate a leaked video showing a senior Ministry of Education official telling curriculum writers to avoid creating a paper trail that would show the Minister of Education’s office was directly involved in curriculum documents.
In the leaked video, obtained exclusively by the New Zealand Herald, Dr Catherine Law – who is also the principal of Avonside Girls’ High School in Christchurch – tells curriculum writers not to put information in writing that shows curriculum material had “gone backwards and forwards” with the Minister’s office, noting that these documents are “OIA-able.”
The Herald report “reinforces ongoing concerns from the education sector about the closed and unnecessarily secret development of curriculum documents over the past two years,” says NZEI Te Riu Roa National Secretary Stephanie Mills.
“NZEI Te Riu Roa believes the report is part of a pattern of behaviour that is unacceptable in the public service,” she adds.
“The Minister of Education stands to benefit from this attempt by Ministry staff and her office to breach transparency because it reduces public scrutiny of her decision-making,” says Ms Mills.
“It is implausible in our view that she had no knowledge of the approach they were taking.”
The revelations from the leaked video reinforce the Waitangi Tribunal’s findings last week that the Minister overhauled the national curriculum in relative secrecy, ignoring Māori voices, opposition from educators, and a lack of evidence that the changes reduce inequities.
The Tribunal found the Government breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles of partnership, active protection, equity, and good government by pushing through sweeping curriculum changes without genuine consultation or co-design with Māori.