'Make te reo compulsory'

Fewer children have gone through kohanga reo. Photo / Wanganui Chronicle

New Zealand's largest education union says te reo Maori should be compulsory in all schools to ensure it's kept alive.

After the release of a Waitangi Tribunal report calling for urgent action to turn around a decline in te reo, the New Zealand Educational Institute said it was everyone's responsibility to ensure the language survived.

The report recommended introducing targets for training teachers in te reo.