Return to school decision plays 'roulette' with students' health, Māori education leaders say

Thursday, 21 October 2021

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announces year 11, 12 and 13 students in alert level 3 areas will be allowed back at school from Tuesday October 26.

An Auckland high school principal says her school will respond to what its kids need, not what Covid-19 announcements direct after the Government’s green light for senior students to return to school next week.

Education and Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced on Wednesday that students in years 11, 12 and 13 would return to school on Tuesday, October 26.

Hipkins cited the need to bring students back to prepare for their end-of-year exams.

“We want to get our young people back into the classroom as soon as we can, but we also want to keep them and the wider community safe.”

Kia Aroha College principal Haley Milne says Māori communities have been left behind by the latest school announcement.

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Between 25 and 50 per cent of Auckland’s daily locations of interest are within a 5-kilometre radius of Milne’s school.

Te Akatea – Māori Principals' Association president Bruce Jepsen says it’s not safe for Māori high school seniors in Auckland to return to school.

“It's all very well and good to be making decisions from Wellington. But we’ve had emails from whānau in the last hour who are worried about whether or not their kids should come back.

“The [Government] response has very much been focused on different communities and whatever community that is, it's not ours.

“I keep saying, it’s like colonisation all over again.”

Some students were unable to return to school as they needed to look after their younger siblings while their parents went to work during the day, Milne said.

Te Akatea president Bruce Jepsen said Hipkins’ announcement caught him by surprise, and if his children were in South Auckland schools, they wouldn't be returning next week.

Given the low vaccination rates of Māori and the increasing Covid-19 cases in Tāmaki Makaurau, the Government had made the wrong call, he said.

“Māori have the lowest vaccination rates, are marginalised in every way, shape and form, and we’re proposing that we sit exams, but we need to be prioritising health.

“They’re saying it’s low risk coming to school. That’s not [the case for] Māori, we’re the ones that are not vaccinated.”

Jepsen questioned if Auckland and Waikato seniors would be returning to school if the wider population’s vaccination rates were on par with Māori.

Health Minister Andrew Little has introduced a bill to reform the health system.

“We were always working to return to school, but not to get back at the most at-risk time.

“The decisions made by our government have marginalised us and put us at greater risk when we’re at risk right now.”

Jepsen also noted that Health Minister Andrew Little had introduced the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures Bill) to Parliament on Wednesday, which aims to address inequities in the health system including issues with Māori healthcare.

He said it showed that the Government recognised Māori were not receiving equitable healthcare, so to send them back to school at a time when they were most at risk was unthinkable.

Dr Dion O’Neale, principal investigator for Te Pūnaha Matatini, which has been modelling the effects of the Delta outbreak, was also critical of the decision, saying that reopening schools to seniors posed a significant risk.

“In addition to new infections that will occur directly from interactions at schools, reopening schools creates large numbers of indirect new connections between households from otherwise weakly connected parts of the community.”

South Auckland's Kia Aroha College will remain closed, despite being able to open from Tuesday. (File photo)

It was also a risk to bring back older students as young people have a higher chance of being asymptomatic if they are infected, vaccinated or not, he said.

“This makes it much trickier to identify cases and prevent spread in groups like senior students.

“Senior students are part of the age group who are the most recent to have access to vaccines. Consequently, the fraction of students in this age group who have received two doses is only around 60 per cent for Auckland and around 40 per cent for Waikato.”

However, Dr Jin Russell, a developmental paediatrician, called it a “balanced decision”.

“Doing our best for children during the pandemic means reducing both the direct harms of the pandemic – that is, being infected with Covid-19 – and the indirect harms. Overseas, we see that prolonged school closures are harmful for children and young people.

“Year 11, 12, and 13 students are increasingly vaccinated, able to tolerate wearing face masks, and physically distance, while on school grounds, which means that the risks of transmission can be mitigated.”

He said schools were trusted in the community and could work to build bridges to families who have not yet been reached by the vaccine rollout.

For now, Kia Aroha College was preparing for students who wanted to return, but as of 3pm on Thursday, only three students had indicated they would be back.

The decision was made for the majority, Milne said, which shut out what was best for vulnerable communities.

“What’s good for Māori and Pasifika communities is good for all communities, but what’s good for Pākehā communities is never good for Māori and Pasifika communities.”