15 March 2023
File Ref: OIA 46559/46568
Henry Tan
[email address] [FYI request #21902 email] Tēnā koe Henry
Official Information Act request
Thank you for your information requests dated
17 and 23 February 2023.
You asked for
the following information:
“Formal orders, if any, given to government personnel, public officials etc. for
assimilation policies/strategies for the purpose of integrating Māori population
with western culture (in particular, against children or youths).
Formal orders, if any, given to education authorities, teachers etc. alongside
the Native School codes for persuading, enticing, coercing, or enforcing
attendance of Māori children at these native schools.
Any notable records of actions of teachers or officials alike (can have names
omitted) engaging in unethical behaviour prejudiced against Māori children
within these Native Schools (such as for speaking te reo Māori instead of
English).”
“I would like to know the total number of Māori students that attended the Native
Schools from the period from inception until the transfer of the last remaining
Māori exclusive school (1867-1969).”
Your request has been considered in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act).
Te Puni Kōkiri’s Knowledge Systems Team have carried out a search of our archive
records and have not identified any information within scope of your requests. Accordingly,
we are refusing your requests under sections 18(e) and 18(g) of the Act as despite
reasonable efforts, we have been unable to find the information you requested and we do
not have any grounds for believing it would be held by another agency.
In our efforts to assist you we liaised with the Ministry of Education and they have not been
able to provide any insight on your request. The Ministry did suggest that you may wish to
approach Archives New Zealand as their historical records are searchable to members of
the public.
I understand that local councils may also hold information on attendance records for their
respective regions, which you will also be able to locate by searching the Archives New
Zealand collection.
Information on searching Archives New Zealand collections is available on their website
at:
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/how-to-search-collections-%7C-me-
p%C4%93hea-te-rapu#/
I trust my response satisfies your request.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this
response.
Information
about
how to make
a
complaint
is
available
at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Please note that Te Puni Kōkiri publishes some of its OIA responses on its website, after
the response is sent to the requester. The responses published are those that are
considered to have a high level of public interest. We will not publish your name, address
or contact details.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this decision, please
feel free to contact us at
[TPK request email].
Ngā mihi
Terina Cowan
Hautū, Te Puni Tautoko Whakahaere | Deputy Secretary, Organisational Support
