A plan by New Zealand’s government to scrap a legal requirement on schools to incorporate local Māori culture in classrooms has been condemned by teachers, principals and school boards.

Since 2020, school boards have been obligated to “give effect” to the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document signed in 1840 between Māori tribes and the British Crown and instrumental in upholding Māori rights.

That treaty requirement includes ensuring school policies, plans and local curriculums reflect local Māori customs, knowledge and world views.

But in an unexpected move on Tuesday, the education minister, Erica Stanford, said the treaty requirement would be removed. Teachers, principals and school boards have said the change risks sidelining Indigenous children and damaging social cohesion.

In a statement provided to the Guardian, Stanford said the treaty obligation “made no difference to raising the achievement of Māori [children]” and that it was unfair to place the obligation on school boards.

School boards are made up of elected representatives including teachers, parents and sometimes students.

“Parents who are effectively volunteers, already responsible for the governance of their local school, were suddenly expected to interpret and implement a treaty obligation that rightfully sits with the Crown,” Stanford said.

School boards would now be required to “seek to achieve equitable outcomes for Māori students”, take steps to provide for teaching and learning in Māori language (te reo Māori) to students whose parents and caregivers request it, and take steps to ensure the school reflects cultural diversity.

But teachers, principals and school boards say that while they might still choose to include Māori culture in their schools, removing the legal requirement for it risked making Indigenous culture, education and language less visible.

“The suggestion that this clause makes no difference simply isn’t true,” the president of the school boards association, Meredith Kennett, said in a statement.

The treaty clause helped school boards implement policies that reflected the needs of Māori and all New Zealanders, she said.

It had been a unifying influence in schools, not a divisive one, Kennett said.

“It causes no harm to have it there, but causes plenty of harm – including to social cohesion – by removing it.”

The president of the principals’ federation, Leanne Otene, said school boards had embraced the treaty obligation and it had helped to create school cultures where Māori children felt reflected, and where their language and culture was valued and respected.

Examples included schools learning about their local history from iwi (tribes), singing and performing traditional song and dance, and incorporating Māori language in signs and greetings, Otene told the Guardian.

“There is rich historic knowledge that is passed down from generation to generation which builds a culture and a uniqueness about why our land … is different from any other country,” Otene said.

Other countries looked up to New Zealand for reviving Indigenous language and culture and the change would put the country “completely out of step as global leaders”, she said.

Since taking office, the coalition government has said it wants to end “race-based policies”. It has ushered in sweeping rollbacks to policies that are designed to improve health, wellbeing and representation outcomes for Māori.

The Labour leader, Chris Hipkins, described the move as a “step backwards”, saying on Tuesday: “[The government] would far rather have culture wars than focus on the mess they are making with the economy.”

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