20190 (2026). Debbie Ngarewa-Packer to the Minister of Education

20190 (2026). Debbie Ngarewa-Packer to the Minister of Education: Why did the Minister direct the Ministry of Education to take a “consultative approach rather than to continue with co-design" to the curriculum rewrite, and what analysis, if any, has she received on how this affects Māori students?

Hon Erica Stanford: The process of updating the National Curriculum began in 2019, with heavy engagement and co-design with multiple stakeholders through to October 2023. As a result, four years later, by October 2023, only one strand of one curriculum area had been fully devleoped and gazetted. The consultative approach taken by our Government has delivered the English and Maths curricula in under a year, gazetted at the end of 2024, and used in classrooms Term 1 2025. We have already started to see the early gains in achievement through the 2025 Curriculum Insights results after only three and a half terms of these curricula being in place. This consultative approach will allow us to have developed every single curriculum area from Years 0-13 in three years, benefitting all students. I have not received analysis on the effects of Māori students from this shift in approach. However, I would note that Māori students will now have access to a world-leading, knowledge-rich, year-by-year curriculum much faster than they would have under the previous Government.