May 04, 2016
Parade to widen te reo support
Te Taura Whiri chief executive Ngahiwi Apanui says a parade through Wellington during Maori Language Week in July is part of a new policy to get all New Zealanders to support te reo Maori.
He says for its first three decades the Maori Language Commission has exclusively promoted re reo Maori to Maori, and that has to change.
"We need all of NZ to buy into the revitalization, we've been trying to get 15 percent of the population to do it for quite a long time and it's not working. Only 8 percent of Maori children are enrolled in kura kaupapa or total emmersion, so we're leaving it up to that 8 percent to revitalize the language and it statistically just can't be done", says Mr Apanui.
Ngahiwi Apanui says with 92 percent of Maori in mainstream schools, it’s essential te reo Maori is in every school.
FULL INTERVIEW: NGAHIWI APANUI
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