Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Education Minister Erica Stanford has dumped rushed plans for new restrictions on homeschooling after a loud backlash from those affected.
Parties from across both the coalition and opposition claimed credit for the backdown on Wednesday, while Stanford pitched it as the government heeding public feedback.
In a statement, Stanford said she had listened to the sector’s concerns and would now pause work on the proposed changes.
“Feedback from stakeholders, MPs, coalition partners and those in the education sector show the issue is more complicated than first thought and we will take the time to get this right.”
On Tuesday, government MPs made changes to legislation before Parliament – without consultation – to impose new checks on parents teaching their children at home.
The legislation had been set down for its third and final reading on Wednesday night, but Stanford said that would now be delayed and the amendments regarding homeschooling removed.
RNZ understands the flip-flop followed discussions between the minister and New Zealand First late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, Stanford said she still believed changes were required for children’s safety, referencing a recent report on homeschooling at the West Coast Gloriavale community.
But she said the government would take “a bit of extra time” to work through some unforeseen complexities.
“It has been kicking around for a really long time with nobody doing anything. When I saw it, my gut reaction was, we’ve got to protect kids, and we’ve got to do something urgently, but I understand now that it was a bit more complex than we had originally anticipated.”
A crowd of about 60 people had gathered on Parliament’s lawn to protest the changes, but the rally turned jubilant on news of the minister’s backdown.
Winston Peters says it was his party who was chiefly responsible. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
National Council of Home Educators government liaison Cynthia Hancox told RNZ she was “absolutely thrilled” the government had heard parents’ concerns.
“We didn’t know they would make that change, absolutely not,” she said. “So it’s certainly become a bit of a celebration.”
Hancox said any changes needed to be appropriate and proportional, as opposed to the sweeping powers which had been proposed.
“Consultation after the fact is not what we need. We need consultation first, so that it’s designed in a way that actually provides what the minister needs in the way of assurance, but also safeguards families.”
The homeschoolers were earlier met outside Parliament by NZ First leader Winston Peters, ACT leader David Seymour, and MPs from both Labour and the Greens.
Mere moments after the minister’s announcement, ACT declared a “major victory” in a written statement, pointing out that its MP Laura McClure had written to Stanford about the issue on Tuesday.
In response, Peters said ACT’s claims were “pretentious mimicry” and insisted NZ First was chiefly responsible: “We’ll have to homeschool them, won’t we?”
Seymour shot back: “success has many fathers, failure is an orphan.”
A crowd had gathered on Parliament’s lawn to protest the changes, but the rally turned jubilant on news of the minister’s backdown. Photo: RNZ / Giles Dexter
Stanford sought to be peacemaker, claiming all three government parties had “held hands” on the matter and were jointly responsible.
“We passed the amendment paper in the first place, and then together have agreed to reverse it,” she said.
Labour and the Greens, meanwhile, pointed to a joint letter which they sent to Stanford last week flagging concerns.
Greens’ co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said their MP Lawrence Xu-Nan had been fighting the cause in the debating chamber ever since the minister’s initial announcement.
“Go and look at the Hansard [transcripts]. Go and look at the Amendment Papers. Go and look at those who were actually doing the mahi down there in the House.
“We can tell you from our experience… [homeschoolers] were quite angry with the way that this government did things.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the “remarkable turnaround” marked “a humiliating day for Erica Stanford”.
“She introduced this change without consulting anybody, pushed it through Parliament, despite the fact that people were raising concerns with her all of the way through, and now suddenly is doing an about-face.
“I very seldom see a minister having to eat humble pie that fast.”
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