Support grows for compulsory Maori in schools

One in three Kiwis want Maori to become a compulsory school subject, a survey has found.

But that will only be possible if the resources are first put into training teachers, the Principals Federation says.

Research New Zealand released poll results yesterday showing 38 per cent of New Zealanders think Maori should be a required subject in schools.

Four per cent did not have an opinion, while 58 per cent said it should not be compulsory.

Director Emanuel Kalafatelis said 500 people were surveyed, and it was a promising result for the future of the language.

"Had we asked [this question] five or 10 years ago I'm pretty sure that we would have got a much lower level of agreement."

Younger people were more likely to agree with making it compulsory, meaning as older generations passed away, the level of agreement was likely to increase.

The organisation would repeat the poll in about three years to see if the trend was growing to make Maori compulsory in school.

Federation president Ernie Buutveld said the result reflected the growing role Maori was already playing in classrooms.

"We have now in our schools, more than ever before, greater ability to work in te reo."

But making it compulsory was not a realistic possibility at this stage, because teachers had to be taught before they could pass on knowledge.

Most teachers had some knowledge of Maori already, and incorporated it into existing lessons without it being a prescribed part of the curriculum.

"I'd be surprised if there was a class in New Zealand where there wasn't some level of te reo spoken at some stage."

Education Minister Anne Tolley said making Maori compulsory in schools was difficult, because there were not enough teachers.

- © Fairfax NZ News