NZFOI: The Ministry of Education is currently refreshing the Years 1–10 Curriculum and has invited public submissions on its draft proposals. We have taken this opportunity to contribute to the process. Below is the full text of our submission.
24 April 2026
5:00pm Deadline Submission
To:
The Curriculum Refresh Team
Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education
Wellington, New Zealand
Re: Submission on the Social Sciences Curriculum Refresh (Years 1–10) and the Need for Senior Civics Education (Years 11–13)
Tēnā koutou,
On behalf of the New Zealand Friends of Israel Association Inc., I welcome the opportunity to provide feedback on the Social Sciences Curriculum Refresh. Our organisation is committed to promoting understanding, dialogue, and the safety and wellbeing of Jewish New Zealanders. We appreciate the Ministry’s work in strengthening Social Sciences education and its emphasis on human rights, democratic values, and informed civic participation.
The draft Year 10 Social Sciences sequence already includes the Holocaust within the History strand. This is an important foundation. However, international evidence shows that Holocaust education is most effective when it is not taught as an isolated historical event, but as part of a broader understanding of human rights, democratic systems, and civic responsibility — all of which are central to the Ministry’s Civics and Society strand.
Our submission therefore focuses on strengthening the Holocaust content already present, ensuring historical accuracy, and connecting it to contemporary issues of antisemitism and civic participation. We also strongly recommend the development of a dedicated Civics course for Years 11–13, where students have the maturity to engage with these issues in depth.
1. Strengthening Holocaust Education Within the Year 10 Framework
The draft curriculum correctly includes the Holocaust under World War Two. To ensure clarity, accuracy, and alignment with the Ministry’s stated goals, we recommend:
A. Clarifying the historical specificity of the Holocaust
The Holocaust was the Nazi regime’s systematic attempt to annihilate the Jewish people. Other groups — including Roma, disabled people, Poles, Soviet POWs, LGBTQ+ people, and political dissidents — suffered terribly under Nazism and must be taught with dignity and accuracy. Each group’s experience should be taught distinctly, not collapsed into a single narrative.
This approach aligns with the Ministry’s emphasis on:
- analysing evidence
- understanding multiple perspectives
- recognising injustice
- learning how human rights frameworks developed
B. Connecting Holocaust education to contemporary antisemitism
Because of antisemitism, a portion of our society is being harassed, intimidated, and sometimes even violently attacked simply for being Jewish. This is a contemporary human rights issue that fits squarely within the Civics and Society strand.
Students should learn:
- how antisemitism operates today
- how to recognise antisemitic tropes
- how conspiracy theories spread
- how to respond safely and appropriately
- how to support peers who are targeted
- how to report incidents
- how to uphold democratic values and human rights
If we want justice — and surely we do — then we must teach students how to stand up for it.
2. Teaching Students How to Push Back Against Antisemitism
One of the most important objectives of Holocaust and Civics education should be to teach students how to respond safely and appropriately when they encounter antisemitism.
This does not mean confrontation. It means:
- recognising harmful stereotypes
- understanding why they are dangerous
- knowing how to challenge misinformation
- knowing when and how to seek help
- knowing how to support classmates who are targeted
- knowing how to report incidents through appropriate channels
This aligns directly with the Ministry’s commitments to:
- student wellbeing
- anti‑bullying frameworks
- digital citizenship
- safe school environments
- the development of confident, connected, actively involved young people
3. The Case for Civics Education in Years 11–13
The Ministry’s draft states that Year 10 Social Sciences “prepares students with the knowledge and practices to access related curriculum subjects for Years 11–13.” This creates a natural pathway for a dedicated senior Civics course, where students have the cognitive maturity to engage with:
- democratic institutions
- human rights frameworks
- extremism and radicalisation
- propaganda and media manipulation
- contemporary antisemitism
- the responsibilities of citizenship
Holocaust education should be a core case study within this senior Civics course, enabling students to connect historical injustice with contemporary civic responsibilities.
Older students are developmentally ready to:
- analyse complex political and ethical issues
- understand the consequences of democratic failure
- evaluate competing perspectives
- participate meaningfully in civic life
- prepare for voting and public engagement
A senior Civics course would therefore strengthen the Ministry’s goals of producing informed, thoughtful, and active citizens.
4. Summary of Recommendations
For Years 1–10
- Strengthen Holocaust content already present in Year 10.
- Clarify the Holocaust’s historical specificity.
- Teach the persecution of other victim groups distinctly and accurately.
- Integrate Jewish life and culture, not only Jewish victimhood.
- Teach students how to recognise and respond to prejudice.
- Connect Holocaust education to human rights and democratic values.
- Provide teachers with training and high‑quality resources.
For Years 11–13
- Develop a dedicated Civics course.
- Include Holocaust education as a central case study.
- Teach contemporary antisemitism, conspiracy culture, and online radicalisation.
- Teach students how to push back safely and appropriately when they encounter antisemitism.
- Connect historical lessons to democratic participation and critical media literacy.
5. Key takeaways
Holocaust education is not simply about teaching a historical event. It is about equipping young New Zealanders with the knowledge and moral clarity to recognise antisemitism — a threat that continues to harm Jewish communities today — and to repudiate it wherever it appears.
Because of antisemitism, a portion of our society is being harassed, intimidated, and sometimes violently attacked simply for being Jewish. That is an injustice. A curriculum committed to equity and citizenship must prepare students to recognise injustice and to act.
The Curriculum Refresh is a rare opportunity to strengthen this essential part of our national education. We urge the Ministry to adopt the recommendations above to ensure that Holocaust and Civics education in Aotearoa is accurate, meaningful, and future‑focused — and that it prepares young people not only to understand injustice, but to stand against it.
Ngā mihi nui,
Tony Kan
President
New Zealand Friends of Israel Association Inc.
Charities Commission Registration No: CC 43880
