Ministry Admits Treaty Blunder
NewsRoom.co.nz Agency Story at 1:32 pm, 14 Mar 2007             Print this story <file://../main/viewstory.aspx?storyid=363084&catid=0&m=print>        
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The Ministry of Education says it got it wrong when it removed references to the Treaty of Waitangi from its draft curriculum for schools.

The ministry came in for criticism this morning when it appeared before Parliament's Maori Affairs Select Committee.

When the draft curriculum was unveiled last year, some Maori groups were upset that specific references to the Treaty's principles had been omitted.

The Secretary of Education, Karen Sewell, said Treaty references had been removed because it was thought they were, as she put it, a given.

She told the committee that consultation on the draft document had shown that the ministry was wrong.

National MP Georgina Te Heu Heu said she was astounded that the ministry could have considered removing the Treaty in the light of such depressing statistics of Maori underachievement.