Urban Maori are less proficient in their language than rural counterparts, a survey shows.
Only 6 per cent of Auckland region Maori and 9 per cent of Maori in the Wellington/Nelson-Marlborough region could speak te reo Maori very well.
In comparison, 17 per cent of Northland Maori could speak the language very
well. Sharing second place were Gisborne/Hawkes Bay and Bay of Plenty on 13 per cent, while Waikato was third on 10 per cent.
All other areas scored less than 10 per cent in the Statistics New Zealand survey based on responses by 5000 Maori and commissioned by Te Puni Kokiri (the Maori Development Ministry).
Nationally, the survey found 9 per cent could speak Maori "well" or "very well" and a further 33 per cent could speak some Maori.
The information will be used to assist Government agencies, local iwi and Maori communities planning Maori language programmes.
When the provisional results were released, Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia said they were encouraging as they showed more young people were learning and using te reo Maori.
Nationally, he said high proficiency speaking skills were more likely in older age groups, but there was evidence that the proportion of younger people highly proficient in te reo was increasing.
Six percent of Maori aged 15-24 years reported they could speak the language "well" or "very well", compared with 4 per cent of those aged 25-34 years.
Young women were more likely to report high proficiency skills than young men. Nine per cent of women aged 15-24 years said they could speak Maori "well" or "very well", compared with 3 per cent of men in this age group.
Overall, the survey showed 42 per cent of Maori aged 15 years and over - 136,600 people - had some Maori language skills.
- NZPA
