ACT: Punitive School Discipline Will Harm Māori Students

By Dr Harpreet Singh | drhsinghnz.substack.com | FB: @DrHSinghNZ | BSky: @DrHSinghNZ | IG: @DrHSinghNZ

Author’s note: The ACT Party’s punitive school discipline policies will push more Māori students out of education. Stand-downs and fines do not solve complex problems; they deepen disengagement. Real accountability comes from restorative practice, clear boundaries, and whānau support, keeping students connected to learning.

Every student has the right to learn in a calm classroom, and every teacher has the right to work without facing violence or constant disruption. Schools must respond firmly to serious misconduct. But policies built around automatic stand-downs, physical restraint and penalties against families will not solve the underlying problem. They will push more Māori students out of education.

Māori students are already disproportionately affected by formal school discipline. In 2024, Māori students received 14,353 stand-downs and 1,807 suspensions across New Zealand schools.

These figures cannot simply be dismissed as evidence of worse behaviour. Discipline statistics also reflect the decisions schools make. The same behaviour may lead to counselling or restorative support in one school and removal from the classroom in another.

Giving schools greater punitive powers without strong safeguards will reinforce this inequality.

Automatic stand-downs ignore the circumstances surrounding an incident. They reduce complicated situations to a single response: remove the student.

A deliberate attack, self-defence, an impulsive reaction and behaviour linked to disability, trauma or emotional distress are not the same. Treating every incident identically is not fairness. It is a refusal to exercise judgement.

School leaders must retain the ability to investigate incidents and impose consequences that are proportionate, informed and effective.

Stand-downs may temporarily restore order, but they do not address the causes of disruptive behaviour. They remove students from the very environment that should be educating and supporting them.

Every day outside the classroom means lost learning, weaker relationships and greater disconnection from school. Repeated exclusion can make students feel that they do not belong and that the education system has given up on them.

For Māori students already experiencing unequal disciplinary outcomes, expanding stand-downs will deepen an existing failure.

Teachers must be able to intervene when someone faces immediate danger. But physical restraint should never become a routine method of protecting property or enforcing general order.

Restraint can escalate conflict, cause injury and destroy trust. Any use of physical force must be tightly controlled, properly recorded and independently reviewed. Teachers also need high-quality training in prevention and de-escalation.

Broad restraint powers without meaningful oversight would place both students and teachers at risk.

Parents and caregivers should be involved after serious incidents, but fining whānau for missing meetings is unjust.

People may be absent due to shift work, illness, transport problems, childcare responsibilities, or insecure employment. A financial penalty will not remove these barriers. It will punish families already under pressure and damage the relationship between home and school.

Schools should make participation possible, not punish whānau when it is difficult.

Restorative practice offers a stronger response. It requires students to acknowledge harm, face those affected, repair damage and rebuild trust. This is real accountability, not an escape from consequences.

Safe classrooms cannot be created by punishment alone. Schools need clear boundaries, trained teachers, specialist support, culturally responsive practice and genuine whānau involvement.

Students need high expectations and firm, fair consequences. But above all, students need an education system determined to keep them connected, supported and learning, rather than one that responds to difficulty by pushing them out.

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