ACT leader David Seymour says a Ministry of Education decision to shut down a Manawatū kindergarten appears to be “acting against the will of the community”.
In comments made to Stuff, Seymour said he would be asking ministry officials to explain why they were closing Country Kindy, when he met with them on Monday.
“I am very concerned by this action. It would appear that the ministry is acting against the will of the community, rather than upholding standards on its behalf,“ he said.
Country Kindy, between Feilding and Palmerston North, had been stripped of its licence over curriculum issues, a decision the Early Childhood Council described as an “overreach”.
This is unusual. Normally you only close an institution if it is unsafe. So what are the sins done by Country Kindy:
A 2022 Education Review Office report found children’s culture, language and identity at the kindergarten were not consistently reflected in the curriculum.
It also found learning partnerships with tamariki and whānau Māori were not evident, and the kindergarten had not made clear progress with previous recommendations.
So they close down the only Kindy in the area, despite the support of parents.
UPDATE: The closure is delayed for at least 12 weeks, which is good.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
5 comments:
It is up to maori parents to teach theur culture to their kids, not the state. Leave the kids and the kindy alons. . It is pure indoctrination.
Yes this was very telling!
"learning partnerships with tamariki"
I have to wonder exactly what this means. Tamariki are children. Perhaps in this context they are referring to excusively Maori children. But regardless, 'learning partnerships'? Are they trying to say that the children are not learning? This is such vague mumbo-jumbo that leaves everyone scratching their heads as to what is the actual problem.
Early childhood education is obviously important but at that age, what exactly does the ministry expect them to cover? A full treaty of waitangi study? Colonisation and intersectionality? In some ECE facilities in this country there will be not a single Maori child. So everyone sings a Maori song and no one knows what it means.
I'm not opposed to to the kids learning Maori songs and Matariki stars and the like but have some common sense MoE!, it should not be enough to shut them down if this kindy isn't ticking the 'right' boxes.
There really is no excuse for our Coalition, and Seymour in particular, to sort out the MoE and reverse yet another racist decision, forcing 83% of the population to endure compulsory cultural practices of the other 17% (in reality, much less than that, because many Maori couldn't care less.)
It would be interesting to know how many Maori parents are happy to have their kids at this kindy - but don't expect to get an answer from our MSM!
If this isn't sorted out then we can be sure that the Coalition Agreements are not worth the paper they're written on.
Is a learning partnership a situation where the adults also learn from the toddlers?
Give credit where it is due , ACT and David Seymour have less staff than the average Kindergarten and he sorted the issue to allow the Kindy to operate and will now sort the issue for all kindergartens .
The sooner that NZ realises we are poisoning ourselves by giveing the ethnicity despicables oxygen , our nation will become more extreme and divided.
Post a Comment