April 04, 2016
NZ Wars lessons a defence against racism
Green MP Marama Davidson is unimpressed with the Education Ministry's excuse for not ensuring the New Zealand Wars are taught in schools.
The Maori affairs select committee last week considered a petition led by Otorohanga College students calling for more resources to go into teaching about the wars and their consequences.
But the Secretary for Education, Peter Hughes, told the committee making schools teach a specific subject would be contrary to the spirit and underlying principles of the curriculum.
Ms Davidson says it can be made a core subject like English or maths.
"Missing out this part of our Aotearoa land wars history and our Maori history is actually wrong and has given generations this wedge of racism that just continues to grow and grow. It's really hard to try and say to schools 'you must do this, you must do that,' but that's because I think we need to reframe the dialogue. This should be a core understanding of all New Zealand children as they come through our system," she says.
FULL INTERVIEW: MARAMA DAVIDSON
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