Teaching te reo Māori in schools enables students to "be Māori and learn as Māori" and is important to maintain and grow "that treasure", Tauranga principals say.
But some school leaders fear there are not enough teachers qualified to teach te reo.
Some comments included "not my language, not my culture, not interested", "absolutely terrific idea, about time" and "let children choose".
Tauriko school principal and Western Bay of Plenty Principals' Association chairwoman Suzanne Billington said: "When you learn a language, you learn a culture.
"We're a country that's trying to get better and better at looking after each other having empathy and valuing all cultures."
Billington said schools had a requirement under Te Tiriti o Waitangi to teach te reo in some way and "all schools are aware of their obligation".
Tauriko School principal Suzanne Billington. Photo / File
Billington's response to the idea that learning te reo in schools should be a choice was, "if we made literacy a choice or maths a choice that there would be quite a few people that would have opinions around that.
"In primary school, we teach a general curriculum and there's an obligation under the Tiriti to teach in a way that's culturally responsive.
"If you say opt-out and it's a choice, where do you stop?"
At Tauriko school, a formal te reo Māori class was taught once a week and the language was also in the everyday curriculum, which Billington said had built understanding.
"Our Māori students see themselves as being valued ... for our students that aren't Māori, they understand that there is a value here and their friends have a special, unique side to them.
"We have Māori students in all our schools so under the principle of inclusion and to enable our students to be Māori and learn as Māori, there's an obligation there."
Billington said iwi she had spoken to believed it was not a good idea to make te reo compulsory "as they believe there was trauma in regards to taking away the language years ago".
"I think we take advice from people who are in the know."
Billington said there was a shortage of te reo speaking teachers and it may take generations for all teachers to be fluent.
"What we're trying to do in all schools is to raise the capacity of all our staff."
Tauranga Primary School principal Fiona Hawes said it was important to learn at least the basics of te reo to "maintain and grow that treasure in our country".
"Wouldn't it be a shame to lose a whole language?
"However, I don't think we're at the school level to deliver it currently."
Tauranga Primary School does not have a bilingual class, she said.
"Ours is more embedded around tikanga and practices and very basic te reo Māori delivery in school."
Hawes said about 19 per cent of the school's students were Māori.
"We don't have the demand currently for that [bilingual classes] and there's plenty of schools in Tauranga that do deliver that service.
"All of our staff do wānanga as part of working here but it's quite a significant leap to be able to teach a second language."
Labour MP Tamati Coffey feels New Zealand is becoming a bicultural country. Photo / File
Labour MP Tamati Coffey said he had heard many answers to whether it should be a choice to learn te reo Māori at school.
"I've even heard it from our kaumātua that say that actually English was forced on them and the memory of that forced nature of language learning still has repercussions today.
"However, I think if we want to build towards a bicultural foundation of a nation ... I absolutely think that it's something that we should be committing to."
Coffey's husband, Tim Smith, taught at King's College where it was compulsory to learn te reo Māori, creating "grounded" kids who used the language in everyday conversation.
Coffey said te reo Māori was so normalised at King's College, "it's like talking about maths, it's just something that everybody did".
The Government has committed to achieving 1 million New Zealanders conversationally speaking te reo Māori by 2040, he said.
"We're moving into a space where we can be a bilingual country."
He said the lack of te reo Māori teachers "is a reality" and the Government was training teachers through the Te Ahu o te Reo Māori initiative.
"It's a pathway of getting teachers proficient with te reo Māori, there are courses being held all around the country."
National MP Simon Bridges. Photo / File
In 2020, a National member's bill aimed to make one language class compulsory at primary and intermediate schools was not passed.
National MP Simon Bridges said it was good to see more people learning te reo.
"National supports schools offering it as an option, but it shouldn't be made compulsory in schools."
