Trusted
No doubt what this may be controversial but I think sometimes we lose sight of what really needs to happen.
I’m all for people taking pride in their heritage. If learning their native language is important to them more power to them. I admire people who can speak more than one language fluently, I can only speak one language. However how effective/useful/practical is this?
From that article,
The automotive industry course at Ara (formerly Christchurch Polytechnic) is one of the largest in the world. Now it is offering the first mechanics class to be taught in te reo Māori.
That came after a kura kaupapa (te reo immersion school) raukura (student) raised concerns that his first language is te reo but the course did not have a Māori option. The polytechnic actioned his request in the hope that many other kura kaupapa students have a chance at getting their tohu (qualification) without English being a barrier.
Probably all of their fellow workmates and most of their customers will speak English, so they’ll have to be able to communicate effectively in English before they’ll be any use in the workplace.
If English was a truly a barrier to them completing their study, then it’s certainly going to be a barrier out in the workplace. I fail to see how providing this course in Maori has any practical use in furthering the students employment prospects as a mechanic.
