Te Kura o Tititea Mount Aspiring College’s (MAC) school board has reaffirmed its commitment to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“The board, college leadership and staff stand united in their affirmation of Te Tiriti,” a joint statement from principal Nicola Jacobsen and presiding board member Niamh Shaw said.

“We believe that giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi is fundamental to the fulfilment of our school vision of being an inclusive and sustainable learning environment that inspires our students to be.”

MAC is now among more than 1,300 New Zealand schools which have publicly reaffirmed they will continue giving effect to Te Tiriti.

It follows the government’s decision earlier last week to remove schools’ obligations to give effect to Te Tiriti.

Nicola and Niamh said the school’s board, leadership and staff are united in their affirmation of Te Tiriti. PHOTOS: Supplied

Education minister Erica Stanford said the treaty was the Crown's responsibility, not schools’.

In their statement Nicola and Niamh said that “the college’s commitment to Te Tiriti is already woven into everyday life at the school”.

“It represents that when our community and our school do well, we all do well.

“Te Tiriti also underpins our values, and supports the sense of identity, wellbeing, and access to equitable educational opportunities for all our students.

“We honour Te Tiriti through our recognition of te ao Māori, including the teaching of te reo Māori, the celebration of Māori performing arts through Te Mākahi o Tititea (the MAC kapa haka group), our annual house haka competition, and our observation of tikanga (protocols and customs).

“We are proud that our students can share in the richness of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Māori culture and heritage, and we believe that our diversity is one of our greatest strengths.