New Tokelauan preschool in Te Atatu keeps language alive

A new preschool at Te Atatu Peninsula is doing its bit to save the Tokelauan language.

 The Fetutolu Tokelau Akoga Kamata Preschool officially opened on February 27 and is one of only two bilingula Tokelauan schools in Auckland.

 Statistics New Zealand figures show the number of Tokelauan speakers in New Zealand is dropping.

 Less than 41% of Tokelauan people could hold an everyday conversation in their native language comapred with 53% in 1996.

Preschool coordinators hope to change that trend.

"Most Tokelauans are NZ-born and don't speak the language," chairwoman Elisapeta Tepou says.

"Each family has the responsibility to educate the second generation."

"Learning Tokelauan as a language gives a sense of identity and links our culture and our past."

Children who attend the preschool are instructed primarily in Tokelauan, but English is also used.

The preschool at Harbour View Road caters to a multicultural group of more than 20 children of Pakeha, Maori, Niuean, Samoan, Tongan and Tokelauan descent.

It cost over $500,000 to build with money raised through various community initiatives, community fund-raising, government assistance and help from the ASB Trust.

Western Leader