Against
Freedom: that's what I love about the university experience.
Ah, public school. Thirteen years of "do this," "study that," "these are your classes," and "you must wear this [basic-as] uniform". Being forced to wear a tie made me hate ties; being forced to take MAOR papers would make many resentful. Being in uni, you wanna stick it to the man, man. People bitch enough about compulsory papers within degrees as it is. But forcing $1,040.70-1,243.65 onto everyone's loans? In this cost-of-living crisis? You're dreaming.
Values are valuable — but they don't pay the bills. Murmur about "alternative revenue streams" all you like. Meanwhile, Grant Robertson isn't reading this because he's sweating balls trying to make the numbers add up. Mandating a paper wouldn't happen in isolation: five 100-level MAOR papers have to cater to massive first-year student intakes; there are only ten MAOR lecturers, and only five of them teach at 100-level. Now that's an impossible stretch. And if only 15% of secondary schools have a reo Māori teacher, well, uh, the uni can't hire extra staff that don't exist.
Finally – it wouldn't work. New Zealand and other anglophone countries are the odd ones out in a world where most schools teach and instruct in more than one language. But that's just it; they start strong at a young age, take it home, and use it in their day-to-day lives. Progress has been made in lower education teaching Māori words, values, and history. But there is progress still to make at this grassroots level, especially with a consistent, comprehensive national curriculum. But that can't come from unis, it must come from the government. You know, NACT1st. Bugger.
Mandating a reo Māori paper wouldn't address the generational malaise of the language. It'd be like hacking away at jungle foliage: you'd expend energy for no gain, get lost, and be absolutely nowhere close to the deep, subterranean root causes.
For
Here’s the thing: most of us left high school with only scraps of Māori history and culture. Classes were rushed, treated like extras, or squeezed into a single term to tick a box. We got the trailer, not the full story. A compulsory Māori paper would change that, giving students the chance to engage with the language, culture, and history of Aotearoa.
And let's be real: university isn't a sacred temple of total freedom. Every degree already has compulsory papers, and no one cried freedom over first-year Stats. If you survived that, you can survive this. So, why not make sure every graduate has a baseline grasp of the language of the land they live on? That’s not tokenism; that’s action.
There’s also urgency. Māori are tangata whenua, first people of Aotearoa, and their language is unique. After decades of suppression, where kids were punished for speaking it, te reo is endangered. Revitalisation is happening, but few families use Māori daily; Duolingo streaks don’t count. If universities normalise it, we help shift the language from survival to revival. That’s not busywork; that’s legacy. Not the whole fix, just a step.
And benefits go beyond culture. Learning a language sharpens thinking, builds empathy, and breaks stigma. In health, law, and education, cultural competence isn't optional: it's expected. A Māori paper doesn’t just make graduates employable; it makes them bearable at flat dinners when culture comes up. Too often, what passes as a “debate” about culture is really resentment; frustration that Māori are standing up for their place in Aotearoa. With some history under your belt, you wouldn’t be resentful; you’d be saying it’s about time.
This isn’t about piling on another burden. It’s about respect, making sure every grad leaves uni with a degree and understanding. Because ignorance isn’t a graduate attribute.