The Human Rights Commission has agreed to encourage and facilitate public input to the report, and is asking you to let us know what you think. The Commission will pass the information on the Ministry of Justice and use it to inform the annual Race Relations Report, which will be published in March 2011.

For more information, visit the Human Rights Commission website.

The Tribunal stressed that Māori themselves had an important role to play, but placed the blame for decline squarely with government. The Tribunal recommends:

• Te Taura Whiri (Māori Language Commission) becomes the lead Māori language sector agency.
• Te Taura Whiri function as a Crown-Māori partnership, with government and Māori appointees equally represented on its board, with increased powers to hold agencies to account over their Māori language strategies.
• Te Taura Whiri set targets for training te reo teachers that have to be met, and have approval power over te reo education curricula and language plans.
• Regional public bodies and schools consult iwi in the preparation of their language plans to ensure grassroots engagement and support.

The Tribunal did not go as far as to recommend Māori be a compulsory subject in schools, nor that all official documents be published in both English and Māori, "for we think it more profitable to promote the language than to impose it".

The Tribunal found there has been a drop in the proportion of Māori able to speak te reo and enrolment at Māori-medium education such as Kohanga Reo. These findings have sparked debate over the running of Kohanga Reo, with some Māori leaders calling for a shakeup of the National Kohanga Reo Trust. They have called for a share of the Trust's funding to be devolved to regional level, as well as the setting of enrolment targets for regional operators, to make funding more effective and targeted to the main centres of Māori population.

The education union of the New Zealand Education Institute responded to the Tribunal's findings with a call to make te reo compulsory in schools. NZEI Māori Manager Laures Park says the Education Ministry has never tried to tackle the shortage of te reo teachers needed to meet demand. This issue must be addressed if compulsory te reo classes are to be achieved.

Both Government and non-Government Ministers have commented saying the Tribunal report clarifies the need for change to increase use of te reo. A Ministerial Panel review of the Māori Language Strategy is due to be completed in mid 2011.

Te Waka Reo covered this news in its October issue. The TUPU series is written to foster literacy, through books in five Pasifika languages, chosen for their appeal to Pasifika children. Fōlauga is a journal series with articles, stories, poems, fagogo, and plays in Samoan. TESOLANZ, the national organisation for teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, value the resources highly. "International evidence shows that children learn literacy best in their first language, and that this then leads to better learning of English" says TESOLANZ president Hilary Smith.  However, the Ministry claims the series do not fit with the Ministry's priorities of "numeracy and literacy".

The Ministry's claim does not sit well with President of the education union NZEI, Frances Nelson. Ms Nelson says "it is ironic that the government is removing a resource which can actually make a difference to student learning while it continues to spend millions on a flawed and unproven system of National Standards which schools and parents know will do nothing to lift the achievement of Pasifika children".

The FAGASA organisation, an organisation of teachers and parents supporting the teaching of Samoan in New Zealand, see the move as "shortsighted and linguistically dangerous".

Well known international linguist Bernard Spolsky, (currently Professor Emeritus of English at Bar-Ilan University and Senior Associate at the National Foreign Language Centre in Washington, DC) was involved in the development of the Samoan syllabus in New Zealand. He has written on the bilingual aotearoa website that: "It is just over 20 years since I wrote a report for the Ministry on the Samoan language in New Zealand and saw the beginning of efforts to strengthen the teaching of Pasifika languages; I was also fortunate enough to attend the meeting at which the Samoan syllabus was developed. I am therefore deeply distressed at the recent developments and negativity of the Government, and want to express my strongest support for your efforts to restore the programs."  

The bilingual aotearoa website is a wiki page that has been established to oppose the decision to pause the publications.

One such effort is a petition distributed by Su'a William Sio, MP for Mangere. To get a copy of the petition email sua.william.sio@parliament.govt.nz referring to the 'Pacific languages and literacy petition'.

The Human Rights Commission has received a number of complaints about the issue and is seeking to resolve the matter through its mediation process.

The critical situation of Indigenous languages in Australia has been highlighted by the 2009 Aboriginal Social Justice Report, the report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples and the UN CERD Committee, which called for a national inquiry into Indigenous languages.  Commissioners called on federal, state and territory governments to urgently address the endangered state of Indigenous languages, including in education and in the development of the new school curriculum, and the provision of professional interpreting services.  They also agreed to work together to promote the protection of the Indigenous languages of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, as well as those of other cultural communities.

For a full report on the Race Relations Roundtable, visit the New Zealand Human Rights Commission's website.

iSign's vision is to help Deaf community members communicate through NZ Sign Language in as many interactions with individuals and organisations as possible. NZ Sign Language is one of the official languages of New Zealand.

Users are set up with a secure account that allows them to make requests for interpreters and receive confirmations via the internet. iSign also takes bookings for sign language interpreters through telephone, fax, text, videophone, relay call, online and face to face meetings.

iSign puts all of its margins back into helping the Deaf community, paying for interpreting where it would otherwise be unfunded.

The newsletter will be an important tool to inform the Deaf community about iSign services. iSign also has a newsletter for interpreters. To subscribe to these newsletter or for more information, contact iSign at Ph 09 950 3606; Mob 021 245 7580; Fax 0800 438 474 or email info@isign.co.nz.

King's College headmaster Bradley Fenner says the response to the programme from students and parents have been positive. He sees the programme as an important part of the schools curriculum.

The report can be viewed online at the NZ Herald website.

Iria Whiu, the chair of Te Wharekura o Mauao's board, says it's great news and should help bolster local understanding and respect for cultures.

Construction will start early in the new year to be ready to open for the start of the 2012 school year.

The conference, held in Auckland in July 2009, brought together people with a common goal: ensuring the strength of Pasifika languages.

AlterNative Volume 6, Issue 2 Special Supplement Issue Ngaahi Lea 'a e Kakai Pasifiki: Endangered Pacific Languages and Cultures' can be found online at the AlterNative website.

Japanese Downunder looks at the differences between kiwi and Japanese cultures. Sometimes hilarious, always interesting and often surprising. Naoko Kudo brings her unique look at what it's like to be a Japanese in New Zealand. This programme is podcasted!

For more information go to Plains FM website.

Interpreting New Zealand's mission is to provide access to affordable interpreting services to ensure all members of the community who are not native speakers of English are able to clearly understand information presented to them and are able to be understood.

The AGM is open to anyone interested in supporting Interpreting New Zealand's work.

Date    :           Wednesday 17 November
Time   :           5:30 pm
Venue :           Level 1 Multicultural Services Centre 39 Webb Street, Wellington.

Drinks and nibbles will be available from 5:30 pm, and the formal part of the evening will start at 6:00 pm.

You'll find detailed information about Interpreting New Zealand at their website.

Guest speakers include Brian Brooks, a former Dean of the Victoria University Law School who is a specialist on ethics and Dr Ben Gray, a GP who also lectures at the Otago Medical School on General Practice.

Language Line manager Diana Clark said "we held a similar seminar in Auckland when we launched our book 'Interpreting in New Zealand - the Pathway Forward' on interpreting and the feedback was so positive we thought we would run a similar event in Wellington and perhaps further afield next year."

Date    :           Thursday 18 November
Time    :           8:45am - 12:30pm (Followed by lunch)
Venue: Level 1, TSB Building 46 Waring Taylor Street, Wellington

People who work in interpreting and are interested in attending should RSVP by Monday 15 November.  Send an email to Kate or phone 04 495 9448.

Date    :           Monday 22 November
Time   :           10am - 12pm (Morning tea will be provided)
Venue :           Level 4 Christchurch Community House 141 Hereford St., Christchurch
Cost    :           Free

 Get answers to questions such as: 

• Why not just struggle along without an interpreter?
• What are the risks of using an untrained interpreter?
• How do I know if an interpreter is needed?
• How do I work with an interpreter?
• How do I monitor an interpreter's performance?

The session will be interactive and there will be time for questions and comments. Consider your own experiences with trained or untrained interpreters or other situations where communication has been difficult, and bring your ideas to the workshop.

The workshop will be delivered by Daniel Cheng, Training Manager at Interpreting New Zealand, and a very experienced and highly-qualified interpreter and trainer.  He has been interpreting between Cantonese, Mandarin and English for over 16 years in a wide range of settings, and besides conducting sessions for professional bodies on the use of interpreters, regularly trains new and practising interpreters.

For more details visit Interpreting New Zealand online.

For catering purposes and because space is limited, RSVP by Wednesday 16 November to Atena Hensch, Coordinator of Interpreting Canterbury Ph (03) 372 9311.

The first of its kind, the Forum brings together employers, industry training organisations, migrant organisations and others working with English language skills in the workplace.

Keynote speakers are:

• Michael Barnett, CE, Auckland Chamber of Commerce
• Peter Conway, Secretary, CTU
• Dr Judy McGregor, EEO Commissioner, Human Rights Commission
• Alison Sutton, Strategic Analyst, COMET

Don't miss this groundbreaking event!

Date    :           Friday 3 December
Time   :           9:15am - 4:30pm
Venue :           Limelight Lounge, Aotea Centre, Auckland
Cost    :           $165.00 GST excl

To register and for more information visit English Language Partners NZ. Registrations close Friday 26 November.

Sponsored by Ako Aotearoa.