Education whistleblower claims Official Information Act subversion is not isolated

An unidentified Education Ministry whistleblower claims that attempts to subvert the Official Information Act (OIA) are not isolated incidents. The source alleges that staff are frequently instructed verbally to avoid putting certain communications in writing to bypass OIA requirements.

Leaked footage shows senior official Catherine Law telling approximately 30 people during a meeting not to record in writing that they were responding to feedback from the Education Minister's office. Law, who was seconded from Avonside Girls' High School to lead secondary curriculum work, stated, "What we do not need is anything in response in writing that shows that this stuff has gone backwards and forwards between them and us".

The whistleblower further alleged that senior leaders repeatedly gave verbal instructions to remove Māori terms, such as 'Aotearoa', 'ākonga', and 'kaiako', from draft curriculums. They claimed these instructions occurred about six or seven times a year but were often more subtle than the recent video.

Education Minister Erica Stanford denied that Māori words were being reduced in the curriculum and stated there were no attempts to circumvent the OIA. Stanford said, "We considered Article 3 of the Treaty throughout the process of updating the curriculum ... as a result, there is vastly more Māori content across the refreshed curriculum". She also described the source of the information as ideologically-driven.

Compiled from reports by 1News and Otago Daily Times.