Hold a referendum on making te reo compulsory

A FORMER South African doctor, Moyra SweetnamEvans, is 100% supportive of making the Maori language compulsory in our schools (ODT, 14.9.18).

As a New Zealander of Maori heritage, I have taken it upon myself to look up the meaning of Maori place names as I travel.

Dr SweetnamEvans, the Green Party and others want the teaching of Maori to be compulsory. To my knowledge, Maori are not prevented from learning their own language.

Many unelected bureaucrats and fellow travellers supported by the media wanted a flag change. A referendum by the New Zealand people brought them all down to earth.

I suggest that a referendum be held in which Dr SweetnamEvans and members of the Green Party can have their say.

This may better decide whether the Maori language be made compulsory in our schools.

Evan Sadler Henley

NGAHIWI Apanui (ODT, 13.9.18), implies that Garrick Tremain’s cartoon doesn’t have a shred of truth in it. But what better way of hitting home the stupidity and the impossibility of making te reo compulsory.

The 1970s and ’80s witnessed the rise of kohanga reo preschool and bilingual departments at high schools. By the ’90s kohanga reo were in decline and bilingual ‘‘marae’’ struggled to get fluent teachers.

Criticism was rife over the standard of Maori being taught by nonfluent teachers.

So te reo is now back in vogue with the word ‘‘compulsory’’ being added by dreamers who have no experience or knowledge of the impracticality of achieving this. Many schools can’t even get qualified maths or science teachers. And the dreamers ignore children’s rights to choose and the limited time in school days.

There have been big improvements in Maori pronunciation, but for Maori children the huge gap in education achievement is sadly a socioeconomic problem.

Ron Robert St Clair