Enrolments in Te Reo Māori courses continue to rise

University of Cantebury students are enrolling in te reo Māori courses at a higher rate than previous years.

Student enrolment in te reo Māori courses have continued to rise at UC and across the country.

From 2009 to the end of 2022, UC saw a 118% increase in students enrolled in te reo Māori courses.

As of June, this year, there were 376 UC students enrolled in those courses with an additional 1436 students enrolled in Māori and Indigenous Studies courses.

This trend has been reflected at universities around the country with Ministry of Education data showing over a 75% increase in students studying te reo across the wider tertiary sector from 2013 to 2022.

Over this period the Otago region saw the largest increase in student enrolments with a 64% increase in te reo Māori students in universities.

Universities in the Auckland and Wellington regions also saw increases of 44% and 40% respectively.

The increase in enrolments comes as the number of students studying traditional foreign languages such as German, French and Spanish decline.

The Ministry of Education reported that the number of students studying international languages in universities has decreased from 3355 in 2013 to 783 in 2022.

The changes have seemingly come as more students see the personal benefits learning a te reo can provide. But more specifically as students gain a greater appreciation of te reo Māori and the Māori culture.

Te reo student Bethany chose to enrol as it provided an opportunity for her to continue learning after high school.

She thought that the shift in the way we view and value the Māori language and culture as a country was helping to drive up student numbers.

"As it becomes a lot more normalised in society more people want to learn it” she said.

Another factor she thought was behind the continued rise is students are seeing the personal benefits of learning te reo. In addition to the benefits learning the language can provide after study as a valuable skill that can create many future career opportunities.

"I think career-wise a lot of different pathways look for people who can speak te reo, so it provides a lot of different opportunities."

She encouraged other students to enrol in te reo courses finding it to be a unique learning opportunity that can provide greater insight into not just the Māori language and Māori culture.

"The language is the gateway to the culture so in learning the language you also get to learn the culture."