Claim Wai 789, the Mokai Primary School claim, was brought by Mohi Osborne and Te Aroha Adams and concerned the closure of a sole-charge primary school at Mokai in October 1999.
The claimants alleged that, by closing Mokai Primary School, the Crown failed to protect the tino rangatiratanga and taonga of the hapu of Mokai, and so did not meet its Treaty responsibilities. The school, it was said, was a significant vehicle for the retention and transmission of 'local identity and autonomy - Mokaitanga'.
'I believe that if we are to retain the ahi ka of Mokaitanga then we need to educate our tamariki here in Mokai. Te ahi ka is within us when we are born but it must be nurtured within Mokai for it to survive. As the future kaumatua and kuia of Mokai the tamariki must walk alongside their parents and grandparents to learn the ways and responsibilities of the people. With the marae being so close there is a natural flow and interaction between what we sometimes call the triangle, this being the marae, the Mokai village and the school.'
Koti Te Hiko
'This isn't really just about education. This is about who we are. Our identity. This is about our whole being, our wairua, our tinana, our tikanga, our kawa … And it is time for us to stand up, as we are doing, and reclaim that … It comes from an inbuiltness to strive and to fight for who we are. You take away a man's identity, he has no face. You move these tamariki out of Mokai, they have no face. They are faceless out in the world. You keep them here, you give them solid roots and solid foundations, ae they go out to the world and they can face them with a face. So that when people ask them, "Ko wai koe?" "Ae ko au," and [they] say who they are with pride and with dignity.'
Mere Wall
The Tribunal constituted to hear the claim was comprised of Joanne Morris (presiding), John Baird, Areta Koopu, and Rangitihi Tahuparae. Urgency was granted, and hearings were held in November 1999 and January 2000. The Tribunal presented its report to the Minister of Maori Affairs and the claimants on 31 March 2000.
'Our analysis of the evidence and submissions presented in the claim leads to the conclusion that, despite the Crown's commitment to the goal of improving the education of Maori children, its closure of Mokai Primary School was not undertaken consistently with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. In brief, the "good governance" that is required of the Crown, and that is demonstrated by its attention to protecting taonga and enhancing tino rangatiratanga by reasonable means, was not evident in the chain of events that culminated in the school's closure.'
The Waitangi Tribunal
The Tribunal recommended that the school be reopened with more intensive support from the Crown than was available in the past. It also recommended that the Crown clarify its policies and processes for intervening (by closure or other means) in the governance of schools in difficulty.
'Although the claim concerned one small primary school that was serving a rural Maori community, we consider that the Treaty arguments and evidence submitted to us, and our analysis of them, raise larger questions about the responsiveness to Maori interests of contemporary Crown education policies.'
The Waitangi Tribunal |
