Opinion: Sign language deserves same status as te reo

Going to a South Auckland primary school with a high Maori population meant te reo was always incorporated into our school day.

From singing songs about the Maori words for colours to learning about the myth of Hatupatu and the bird-woman, by the time we left, we knew more te reo than our grandparents certainly did.

Then I went to a private school where you could study te reo as a language option, but most students chose French or Spanish and the class had around eight students.

With my two experiences to draw from, I wholeheartedly agree and applaud the Green Party goal, announced in its Maori caucus yesterday, to ensure every child learns te reo in school.

I envy students who seamlessly slip between te reo and English. I would love to be able to do that.

While I wouldn't say I was a complete novice (I can pronounce most te reo words properly and understand basic sentences) I am ashamed I don't know more, especially because it is an official language of my country.

But there is something I am more ashamed of and something I think continues to be overlooked. Our third official language that is, in my opinion, just as neglected in our schools - sign language.

I don't see anyone jumping up and down for that to be compulsory in schools, but it is just as important.

To my knowledge, there was one boy in my year group at primary school who understood sign language and that was because his mother was deaf, not because it was taught in our class.

Sign language was not an official language when I was at primary school (it was passed in Parliament in 2006) so it would be fair to excuse it not being taught, but now that it is, what's the excuse?

Te reo Maori should absolutely be normalised in our schools and I would back any initiative that would help the language flourish, but so should New Zealand's third official language.

I want all our Maori New Zealanders to feel like they can freely converse in their own language and not have others shy away from it. But I also want to see our 400,000-odd hearing impaired New Zealanders offered that same opportunity.