Whanganui residents keen on learning reo

UCOL as well as Te Wānanga o Aotearoa both had yearly increases in their enrolments for beginner's classes in te reo Māori.

Figures from UCOL and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Whanganui campuses show demand for learning te reo Māori has been growing each of the past few years.

Both centres offer beginner courses in te reo, as well as more advanced levels.

A spokesperson at Te Wānanga said its enrolments had seen a slight increases.

"In 2016, we had 84 full time students studying our beginner's class - the Certificate in Te Ara Reo Māori," he said.

"The qualification name changed in 2017 to Te Pōkaitahi Reo Level 1 and 2 when 121 students studied in this class.

"This year (2018) there are 131 students in our beginner's class."

People can also register interest in te reo Māori classes online and Te Wānanga said it had seen steady growth there over the past five years.

UCOL said it had seen a similar increase in the numbers of te reo students.

The school had 96 people enrolled last year and 121 in 2018.

Most classes for the year are full, with some spaces still available at intermediate level, UCOL's Executive Dean Humanities and Business, Dean Rankin, said.

"We are seeing large increases in people interested in learning te Reo Māori across all our campuses, and many organisations are also encouraging and supporting their staff to learn.

"We have put on more classes than last year, and have a constant number of people enquiring about learning te Reo Māori.

"The classes are free to attend as they are funded from the governments' Adult and Community Education fund. Due to popular demand, the funding targets for UCOL for Adult and Community Education have been achieved for 2018 with only a few classes remaining this year."

Planning was currently under way for more classes at UCOL to meet this demand in 2019.