Former National education spokesperson Nikki Kaye. Photo: ©VNP / Phil Smith
The National Party appears to be deprioritising a key language bill it once championed if it can form a government after the election next month.
The bill making second-language learning compulsory in primary schools was initially proposed by National education spokesperson Nikki Kaye in 2018.
The proposal required schools to teach one of 10 "priority" languages that had yet to be decided upon, although te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language was likely to be included in the mix.
The bill had bipartisan support from Labour, ACT and the Greens even though National was in opposition following the 2017 election, passing its first reading.
In 2021, though, a Labour-led parliamentary committee recommended that debate on the bill be wound up, putting greater priority on te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) while also calling for the development of a national language strategy.
At the time, National criticised Labour for its "change of heart".
Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith, who took over the portfolio from Kaye, argued that National's second-language bill wasn't taking away the existing requirement for schools to make reasonable efforts to offer te reo Māori.
Now, it seems, National has also had a change in priorities.
"National is not currently proposing legislation to strengthen second languages in schools because right now the focus needs to be on ensuring all young people can do the basics in reading, writing and mathematics," says Erica Stanford, National's current education spokesperson. "These are fundamental skills that all students need to learn in order to experience success later in life.
"While we have supported a second language taught at school in the past, the situation we are in now with teacher supply issues and the crisis in core subject areas means that our focus in the near term will be on these areas."
The New Zealand Association of Language Teachers (NZALT), a nonprofit organisation advocating for language education, which has been a supporter of the second-language bill in the past, called on political parties to work together to develop a national language strategy.
"This is critical for global citizenship, and the overall development and well-being of our children," says Juliet Kennedy, president of NZALT. "Language education shouldn't be politicised - much like mathematics and science education goes on, no matter which party is in power.
"NZALT believes learning te reo Māori and NZSL should be prioritised in schools. After this is done, schools should be free to choose their language(s) of choice in consultation with the community.
"So maybe calling it second-language bill is a misnomer. The vision should be towards multilingualism. While resourcing will be an issue to begin with, the policy once outlined should make provisions for it."