The question of whether Te Reo Maori should become an intrinsic part of New Zealand school curriculum has elicited a decidedly passionate response.

In my opinion there is no question; if select parents want their children spending that time at school learning a dying language, it is only fair that it is the choice of those parents rather than the school…

Both sides of the debate are hotly contested with, perhaps expectedly, anyone of Maori heritage claiming the Te Reo language is a big part of New Zealand culture and should therefore be a compulsory subject in schools.

…Better yet if that student wants to waste their time assimilating a language which in the years to come will undoubtedly vanish from existence – similar in fact to the last full-blooded Maori person – let that student say so, while implementing the more commonly spoken and indeed their more familiar, English tongue…

The intention is to keep the language, or at least the history of the Maori language alive, with the hope future generations will benefit from the associated culture.

…Talk of making Te Reo compulsory is reminiscent of last century’s ridiculous ‘Bible in Schools’ or ‘Scripture’ sessions which, when I attended primary school was compulsory and which, for impressionable young, hitherto uncorrupted, healthily atheistic pupils, I now feel was tantamount to forcible brainwashing but which, thankfully, I believe students currently have the choice regarding which theory (fact or fiction) to learn.

French, German, Japanese, Hindi, especially Mandarin, or even Latin, are all worthwhile languages that a child could be learning at school; in a time where tourism is a massive industry and our world is almost totally interactive, why should a child stunt their growth by learning to speak a tongue that, amid the vastness of a worldwide arena, has little clout and ultimately no prospects?

The future of international tourism starts with the Asian continent and ends up somewhere in Europe – these vehement subscribers to Te Reo becoming compulsory in schools are patriotic, sure, but are they practical?

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by U S Lass

Photography by Lang Gage