Māori University Staff Email Hikoi to Parliament

19 October 2006

Māori University Staff Email Hikoi to Parliament

Government is currently consulting on the draft Tertiary Education Strategy (TES) and Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities which will set the direction for Tertiary education in the next five years.

Māori staff and students have been shocked that the Māori component in this process, the Māori Education Strategy, is not likely to be included in the next TES until it is released in June or July of next year. “The Government has essentially left a great policy hole for Māori in tertiary education through their mismanagement in the timing of the release of these strategies” said the Association of University Staff (AUS) Māori Officer, Naomi Manu.

“The TES needs to include a strategy to address the tertiary educational needs and priorities for Māori that shows a commitment to Te Tiriti” says AUS Vice-President Māori, Dr Fiona Te Momo. “The Government needs to refrain from depending solely on the Māori Education Strategy to provide this service,” she said.

Māori staff and students are also concerned about the omission of Te Tiriti o Waitangi from the discussion documents around the development of the second TES.

AUS and Te Kahurangi Whaiti are launching a campaign to have Māori specific priorities included in the second Tertiary Education Strategy.

The campaign includes an email hikoi to the submission inbox at the Ministry of Education. A brief submission has been written outlining the concerns around Te Tiriti and the Māori content in the second TES. Those would participate in the campaign will add their name to the submission and it will be automatically submitted.

“We invite wide participation in this campaign. We want the Government to know that this is a real concern to Māori,” said Dr Te Momo.

The submission can be found at http://www.aus.ac.nz/postcard.asp

ENDS