September 14, 2021
New tool will assess Māori language progress
Supporters of Māori language revival have a new tool to assess progress.
He Ara Poutama mō te reo Māori comes out of a shared project led by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, Te Mātāwai and Ministry of Education.
It uses a computer-generated statistical technique to forecast the number of conversational and fluent speakers of te reo Māori from now until 2040 when the Government has set a target of having 1 million speakers.
Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson says it can offer insights on how to reach that target.
“For rangatahi, both Māori and non-Māori, having a speaker of the language in your home is the biggest way to get them to speak conversational Māori so I think that is identifying opportunities to grow the language,” Mr Jackson says.