Wānanga Sector Framework
The Education and Training Amendment Bill (No.3) has been introduced, proposing a new enabling Wānanga Framework.
Wānanga play a unique role in the tertiary education sector because of their ‘for Māori, by Māori’ approach, commitment to and involvement with the protection and revitalisation of te ao, te reo and mātauranga Māori. The current settings for Wānanga do not reflect the unique role Wānanga play and does not enable them to express their rangatiratanga.
This Bill makes changes to the Education and Training Act 2020, proposing a new enabling framework for the Wānanga sector. This new framework was co-designed with the three Wānanga; Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Te Wānanga o Raukawa, and Te Whare o Wānanga Awanuiārangi. It proposes new fit-for-purpose administrative settings for Wānanga to recognise their mana, rangatiratanga and unique role.
The proposed framework:
- Clearly sets out the characteristics that define the Wānanga as a collective
- Creates new and more appropriate arrangements for the establishment and disestablishment of Wānanga
- Enables Wānanga to:
- Reconstitute themselves as a bespoke Crown entity Wānanga, retaining primary accountability to the Crown and setting out their own unique purpose, functions, and governance arrangements in an Order in Council (OIC); or
- Convert to a non-Crown entity Wānanga, with primary accountability to iwi, hapū, or a Māori organisation but retain some accountability to the Crown still, as well as setting out their own unique purpose, functions, and governance arrangements in an OIC.
- Set out the requirements for what must, and may, be covered within an OIC
- Provides for appropriate transition arrangements.
The Education and Workforce Committee has invited submissions on this Bill. Submissions can be made, until 11:59pm on 1 May 2023, by clicking the link below:
A copy of the Bill can be found by clicking the link below.
To view advice provided in relation to these Bills, please visit the Education and Training Amendment Bill (No.3) and Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill Proactive-release webpage.
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