Merivale School principal Tom Paekau with student Oscar Frost, then 9. Photo / File
Merivale School principal Tom Paekau with student Oscar Frost, then 9. Photo / File
School traffic signs will likely say "kura" as well as "school" from 2022, as part of the first phase of the Government's rollout of bilingual road signage.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has announced proposed options for bilingual school traffic signs will be released for consultation.
The proposal would see the reo Māori word for school – kura – in bold or italic font positioned above the word school to differentiate the two languages.
Two principals from Rotorua and Tauranga have welcomed the proposal.
In November last year, Local Democracy Reporting revealed the Government would commit to bilingual road signs by the end of the parliamentary term in 2023.
On Friday, Waka Kotahi land transport director Kane Patena said in a statement the Government wanted te reo Māori to be "seen, spoken and heard wherever possible, to continue the revitalisation of the language".
"We are seizing the opportunity to introduce bilingual school signs in advance of other bilingual traffic signs to align with expected changes to speed limits around schools from next year."
In April last year, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced proposed changes to the new Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2021 to make speed zones 30 km/h outside urban schools, and a maximum of 60 km/h outside rural schools.
That rule, having gone through consultation, was expected to be implemented in 2022, with 40 per cent of school speed limit changes to be completed by 2024 and the remainder by 2030.
Patena said aligning the timing of the introduction of bilingual school signs with the proposed speed rule changes helped to maximise existing funding set aside by road controlling authorities (such as councils) for the signs.
What school signs may look like by 2023. Photo / Supplied
He said there were two parts to introducing bilingual signage: changing the Traffic Control Device rule to be more permissive of bilingual signage and identifying a prioritised list of signs – such as school signs – that could be changed in the meantime.
Both parts would trigger consultation processes.
There were 580 traffic signs and 380 with text associated with them.
He said the agency had looked at examples in places like Scotland and Wales.
"You can have bilingual signs and also maintain safety standards.
"The thing that's really quite cool about this is that by incorporating te reo Māori or te ao Māori in road signage it reflects our very unique culture, it's a thing that separates us from every other country in the world."
Patena said it had spent $3500 for costs associated with background research but the work was mostly done in-house. Signs would change if and when they needed updating, he said.
Waka Kotahi NZTA land transport director Kane Patena. Photo / Supplied
Merivale School principal Tom Paekau said the proposed bilingual school signs were "awesome" and "long overdue".
Paekau said when he started teaching in 1999, there was "backlash" when Dame Hinewehi Mohi sang the national anthem in te reo Māori.
"That epitomises what the nation was like at that time. From going from that to children learning both versions in school, that's been amazing, [but] it's only the tip of the iceberg to where we want to be as a nation."
He said the proposal was "awesome" and "long overdue".
Ōwhata School principal Henei Taute thought the signs were a "great idea" and te reo Māori was "very much a part of our daily lives" and worth celebrating.
Transport Minister Michael Wood said the proposal was "another positive step to bring more te reo Māori into our everyday lives" but there was more work to be done and he expected to receive more updates in the coming months.
National Party transport spokesman David Bennett said the Government needed to prioritise current projects – such as Wellington's Transmission Gully – as well as "very pressing" maintenance of the network.
"The minister should focus his attention on the delivery of projects and certainty around New Zealand transport infrastructure."
Asked his view on bilingual signage generally, Bennett said his view didn't matter as the public would have their say through the consultation process.
In response, Wood said bilingual signs had "zero impact" on the delivery of transport projects across the country and the Government was "getting on" with building transport infrastructure, such as State Highway 30 and State Highway 5 in Rotorua and provided $2 billion for maintenance.
National Party transport spokesman David Bennett. Photo / Supplied
He said Bennett's comments were "especially baffling given when he was associate transport minister, the National Government froze road maintenance investment and ran our roads down".
Waiariki MP Rawiri Waititi said the realisation of the Government's commitment to bilingual signage meant the country was "starting to move towards" honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi, but it was "still a long way off".
"It's acknowledging the standing and mana of the indigenous people."
He wanted to see te reo Māori visible and spoken in more parts of the Government.
Te Tatau o Te Arawa representative Rawiri Waru said he was happy about the possible changes to school signs but hoped it did not stop there.
"The dream is te reo Māori as an intrinsic part of the New Zealand experience."
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said Rotorua promoted the everyday use of te reo Māori as part of its ReoRua (bilingual) aspirations.
"Both [the] council and our partnership board Te Tatau o Te Arawa lobbied for the rules around bilingual road signage to be changed as a way to further encourage and enable the growth of bilingualism, so it's really pleasing to see work towards this now getting under way."
