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Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Ka pū te ruha, ka hao te rangatahi – as the old net withers, a new net is made.

Workforce Development Councils (WDCs) are:

Committed to reimagining vocational education through leading and building a vocational education system that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and supports Māori Crown relations to meet the needs of Māori, iwi and hapū industry, businesses, learners and their whānau to fill present and future talent needs.  Talent that will underpin their sustainability, viability and relevance to the future of both the Māori and wider Aotearoa economies.  

Committed to supporting Māori learners, where ever they are employed, to learn in mediums that enable them to learn and perform as Māori and contribute to the talent base available to businesses and all workplaces including Māori, iwi and hapū industry.

Two woman talking in a hall.
Girl jumping off wharf

Our vision is that our Māori learners and their whānau are able to see a limitless future for themselves in their chosen vocation and have a clear pathway to achieving that future. 

The purpose of the Education and Training Act 2020  (the Act) section 4(d) brings into focus honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi and supporting the Māori Crown relationship. 

Te Tiriti o Waitangi provides the framework that guides how these aspirations will be enabled:

  • Kāwanatanga: Governance 
  • Tino Rangatiratanga: Sovereignty 
  • Mana Ōrite: Full citizenship and rights of Māori

By embedding ‘honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi’ and ‘supporting the Māori Crown relationship’, the Orders in Council (see below) echo section 4(d). 

This legislation portends the coming of a new era and approach to vocational education and how that will be achieved in te ao Māori.

The aspirations of this legislation is echoed in the following government strategies:

  • Tertiary Education Strategy
  • Ka Hikitia – Ka Hāpaitia, the Māori education strategy
  • Tau Mai te Reo, the Māori language in education
  • Maihi Karauna, the Crown’s Strategy for Māori Language Revitalisation 2019 – 2023
  • He Kai Kei Aku Ringa, the Crown–Māori Economic Development Strategy. 
We acknowledge that Māori make up a growing share of our Aotearoa New Zealand workforce and that the iwi and hapū economy will continue to increase its contribution to Aotearoa Inc.  These two facts provide the impetus to act now, to inform ourselves about what that looks like for Māori, iwi, hapū, learners and their whānau and to work with them to design the future of vocational education in Aotearoa. WDCs look forward to working with our partners across the vocational education system, industry, employers and iwi and hapū to ensure we get the very best from the opportunities presented to us by Te Tiriti of Waitangi, the Act, its associated Orders in Council and strategies.