Ko Andy Jackson ahau. Ko te Tumu Whakarae mō Te Tāhuhu o Te Mātauranga.

I am Andy Jackson, the Secretary for Education. I speak today on behalf of the Ministry of Education and the Department of Education.

To all survivors, and your whānau, I am deeply sorry for the abuse you suffered.

The harm you have experienced was unacceptable and should have never happened.  As tamariki and rangatahi, as children and young people, you were particularly vulnerable and should have been protected and kept safe. I sincerely and unreservedly apologise for the harm you suffered in the care of the people and organisations responsible for your education.

Due to our actions and our inactions, you experienced abuse, neglect and predation. Your care and needs should have been our priority, and they weren’t. You suffered in residential specialist schools, private schools, boarding schools, faith-based, state and state-integrated schools. It was not your fault.

Our failures extended across many communities and cultures. Children from all backgrounds were subjected to unacceptable and abusive practices.

You deserved to stay with those you loved, and to have been able to learn while in their care.

As blind, neurodiverse and disabled children you were sent into separate institutions that couldn’t cope with your needs and where many of you suffered abuse.

As ākonga Māori, we stopped you speaking your language, practising your tīkanga and learning your mātauranga.

These things should not have happened.

As deaf tamariki and rangatahi you should have been able to use your own language to learn and develop.

Pacific cultures and languages should have been better understood and valued.

These things did not happen. Instead, your ability to flourish and thrive went unrecognised and you suffered real harm.

For the mistreatment you have endured, I am profoundly sorry. We have heard clearly that we need do much better.

While much has changed since 1999, more work is needed.

To improve child protection, we introduced mandatory vetting and safety checking requirements. We have rules and guidelines for improved practices including regulating physical restraint and banning the use of seclusion. We work with schools so that they know the rules, and we act if those rules are broken.

We know that there is more work to do to make sure education is safe, inclusive, and does not tolerate abuse.

That work is our responsibility, and we will fulfil our commitment to change.

Thank you for sharing your stories. You have had to carry more than is fair. You should not have had these experiences. You should not have had to relive them so that the system could improve. I apologise for the harm that this has caused.

Your courage to tell your story and your determination to be heard are the catalyst for change. That is what brings you here today: change that will make a difference.