At the time of the survey, all those who spoke Maori in Ngaruawahia well were adults over the age of 25. More than three-quarters of this age group also understood the language well. Although none of the people under 25 spoke Māori fluently, a quarter of them understood the language well.
Although English was the main language spoken in most households and in the community, many parents thought that a knowledge of Maori was important. However, nearly all the programmes on television and radio were in English, and this made the teaching of Maori in the homes difficult and uninteresting.
Waikato | Waikato | 1970-75 | 5% of Māori children can speak te reo. (1970-75) | Story is by tangata whenua
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