After a leaked video showing a senior ministry of education official telling staff not to record feedback from the minister’s office in writing, more whistleblowers have come forward and the ombudsmen wants answers, writes Henry Oliver in today’s excerpt from The Bulletin.
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Earlier this week, the Herald’s Jamie Ensor obtained a leaked video showing Catherine Law, programme lead for the secondary school curriculum refresh, addressing staff about feedback from the education minister’s office on draft curriculum material. She warns them the material is “OIA-able” and asks them not to respond with anything referencing the minister’s office.
“What we do not need is anything in response in writing that shows that this stuff has gone backwards and forwards between them and us,” Law says. She tells staff she will use passive verbs so that it appears the feedback came from her.
According to the Herald, Law was seconded from her role as principal of Avonside Girls’ High School in November last year to lead the senior curriculum update.
The “ministry insider” who leaked the footage told RNZ’s John Gerritsen the meeting was not an isolated incident. They said staff had been instructed not to write things down roughly six or seven times a year, though this instance was one of the most brazen. “I was just so over the dishonesty and the toxicity of the workplace,” they said.
They also claimed staff were...
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