Judy Gill: Are Our Schools Teaching NZ Values — Or The UN Agenda?

New Zealand’s education system has shifted far beyond teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. Increasingly, it mirrors the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), embedding international agendas into the classroom. The result is that our children are being shaped by global policy frameworks rather than by the values of a free and secular society.

Three themes dominate: the climate apocalypse, Te Tiriti principles, and Te Ao Māori spirituality. Each aligns neatly with UN education targets.

Agenda 21: Changing Attitudes, Not Just Teaching Knowledge

Since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the UN’s Agenda 21 has been explicit: education is not just about knowledge but about reshaping values and behaviour. Chapter 36 states:

“Both formal and non-formal education are indispensable to changing people’s attitudes… critical for achieving environmental and ethical awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviour consistent with sustainable development.”
— Agenda 21, Chapter 36.3 (1992)

Agenda 2030 and the SDGs

Fast forward to 2015, and Agenda 2030 sharpened the message. SDG 4.7 states:

“By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity.”
— SDG 4.7 (2015)

This makes it plain: schools are no longer neutral. They are expected to transmit global citizenship, climate action, cultural relativism, and identity-based frameworks as unquestioned truths.

How This Plays Out in New Zealand

1. Climate Apocalypse — SDG 13 (Climate Action):
Children are repeatedly taught that the planet faces an existential crisis. Fear of climate catastrophe underpins lessons in science, social studies, and even art. The UN language of “sustainable development” has become the curriculum’s backbone.

2. Te Tiriti Principles — SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities):
The Treaty of Waitangi, once a historical document, is reframed as a living principle of partnership and co-governance. This lines up with SDG targets on “equity,” “inclusion,” and “indigenous rights.” In practice, it privileges ancestry-based entitlements over equality before the law.

3. Te Ao Māori Spirituality — SDG 4.7 (Cultural Diversity & Sustainability):
Spiritual concepts such as atua (gods), wairua (spirit), and whakapapa (genealogy) are taught as cultural knowledge, woven into core subjects. What was once religion is repackaged as culture, bypassing New Zealand’s secular education requirement.
The Bigger Picture

When seen together, these three themes are not isolated teaching choices — they are the local face of a global agenda. New Zealand classrooms are being reshaped in line with UN priorities, shifting the role of schools from teaching critical thinking to enforcing ideological conformity.

The question every parent must ask is this: are our schools teaching children how to think, or what to think?

Hashtags:
#MakeNZEducationSecularAgain #Agenda2030 #UNSDGs #ClimateCrisis #TeTiriti #TeAoMāori

Reference: Instagram Reel — https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOTpYXLCZuF/?igsh=azZlMm02Y2FpenRr

Judy Gill BSc, DipTchg, is a parent, former teacher, and a staunch advocate for secular education.