1500 tipped to attend Maori speech competition in first for city

Dunedin's population will be temporarily boosted by more than 1500 people this week when the city hosts a national Maori speech competition for the first time.

Initially held in 1965, the three-day Nga Manu Korero competition aims to encourage fluency in English and te reo Maori and it was an honour for Dunedin to host the annual event for the first time, national co-ordinator Paulette Tamati-Elliffe said.

Despite the distance many of the 56 speakers and their supporters had to travel, more than 1000 people, including teachers, schools, whanau and kaumatua, had registered for the competition and hundreds more were expected to attend the event, which begins tomorrow.

The competition, organised by a local steering committee, was one of the largest secondary school events in the country, and consisted of four categories - junior English and Maori, and senior English and Maori.

Pupils are asked to speak on a range of topics, including "The Gift of Language", and "Facebook - social networking for the 21st century".

The competition had helped revive the Maori language, which was essential for the future of the culture, Ms Tamati-Elliffe said.

The event will be held at the Lion Foundation Arena at the Edgar Centre.

It begins with a powhiri tomorrow and ends on Thursday.

- hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz

 

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