The University of Auckland’s recommendation that compulsory Treaty of Waitangi and te ao Māori courses be made voluntary for students is a “massive victory for people”, Act Party leader David Seymour says.

He told Herald NOW the U-turn on compulsory participation in the courses showed people deserved the freedom to shape their own academic journey.

The university senate this month recommended that Waipapa Taumata Rau (WTR) courses become optional, rather than being a core requirement for first-year students, following negative feedback from staff and students.

The courses were made compulsory for first-year undergraduates this year. The reversal comes after just one semester was completed.

“This is, again, just a massive victory for people to be able to use reason and logic to get through their lives and make up their own mind,” said Seymour.

“I have a huge admiration for what Māori culture can do.

University of Auckland vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater says it has been reviewing feedback about the Waipapa Taumata Rau courses.

“It’s important to a lot of people, but I oppose compulsion in all its forms. And when you say this is mandatory, it’s actually counterproductive.”

The Waipapa Taumata Rau courses are designed to provide students with foundational skills and knowledge, including an understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi and other elements of te ao Māori (the Māori world).

Now the senate has voted to make them optional, the university’s governing body - the university council - is expected to act on this advice next month.

Following the senate’s recommendation, Act Party tertiary education spokeswoman Dr Parmjeet Parmar said the university should “respect [students’] time and money, and put their interests ahead of Treaty ideology” if it wanted to attract promising students from New Zealand and beyond.

“Student feedback, now reportedly under review by the University Senate, confirms what Act has been saying all along: the course is seen by many as politically loaded and irrelevant, particularly for those in specialist programmes."

She also expressed concern about the impact on academic freedom, and reiterated that students “want, and deserve, choice”.

David Seymour said the U-turn on the Auckland University's compulsory te ao Māori courses was a "massive victory for people". Photo / Mark Mitchell

In March, Seymour called on the university to abolish the compulsory courses for first-year undergraduates, describing them as “a perversion of academic freedom” and “a form of indoctrination”.

At the time, a university spokesperson defended the courses, saying they were faculty-specific and relevant to the students’ studies.

But Seymour didn’t agree, saying it was unusual to have a course be compulsory across degrees.

“This is quite different, it is actually a form of indoctrination because it’s largely being taught by people outside a particular faculty, for frankly political purposes rather than educational.”