Bob Edlin: Asian school attendance rates cast doubts over links between the Treaty....

....“cultural safety” and Maori truancy

Newsroom brought Maori truancy into focus in a report headed Record school attendance masks persistent gap for Māori.

It was a narrow focus. No mention was made – for comparative purposes – of school attendance rates among other ethnic groups which might be culturally disadvantaged in the New Zealand school system – or who might feel culturally “unsafe”.

The report said:

Simon Brown: MCNZ Consultation Draft Statements

on Cultural Competence, Cultural Safety, and Hauora Maori

Introduction:

As a retired medical research scientist with nearly 30 years of experience working in close collaboration with consultant clinicians and teaching clinical training fellows, I wish to provide feedback on the Medical Council’s draft statements. While my career was spent overseas at the intersection of research and clinical practice (Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queen’s Medical Centre, Queen’s Medical Research Institute) after graduating from Otago (Chemistry), I have observed first-hand the dedication of medics to patient-centred care based on medical need and evidence.