Te Hiku Media provided a Live Broadcast of the 'Te Reo Maori Advisory Group' consultation hui at Mahimaru Marae regarding proposed amendments to the Maori Language Bill. 

Background

About $225 Million is spent annually (by the government) on te reo Maori. Regardless of this spend recent data tells us that Maori language proficiency is declining. The inter-generational transmission of the Maori language has all but ceased.

Only 1 in 5 people can speak Maori. Only 5% can speak Maori in a highly proficient manner, and only 2.6% speak Maori as their main language in the home. Only 1 in 10 Maori children access te reo Maori at school. Despite our efforts in Kohanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa, Nga Reo Irirangi Maori, Maori TV and Te Ataarangi ... UNESCO continues to classify the Maori language as seriously endangered.

There are about 6,500 languages in the world and 2,000 of these have less than 1,000 speakers. It is estimated that by the next 50 years 50% - 90% of those languages will be extinct.

Te Ururoa (Minister for Maori Development) is reviewing the Maori Language Bill in an effort to ensure that Te Reo Maori is not one of those languages that is lost.

Check out the link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k85lsfS9rwk&feature=youtu.be