Why fewer people want to learn Mandarin in New Zealand

Source: CNA

AUCKLAND: Mandarin was once the darling of foreign language learning in New Zealand.

Students even used to camp overnight outside the University of Auckland's foreign language department to get a spot in the Chinese programme.

But student numbers are seeing an "alarming decline", Dr Wang Danping, senior lecturer of Chinese at the university told CNA.

Mandarin was formally included in the national curriculum in 1995 at secondary school level. The language later entered primary schools, seeing a surge between 2010 and 2020, thanks in part to a NZ$10 million (US$6.1 million) Asian Language Learning in Schools fund. But since then, the pipeline of students appears to have dried up.

Official data shows the number of students learning Mandarin at universities across New Zealand was just 255 in 2020, a 57 per cent drop from 2010. At least one university, the Auckland University of Technology (AUT), closed its Asian Studies and Chinese Studies programmes in 2023, while its Diploma in Arts in Chinese programme was closed in 2019.

"These actions were taken because of a substantial decline in student enrolments in these teaching programmes," said Professor Tim Maloney, head of the AUT's School of Social Sciences & Humanities.

Several other universities are also downsizing their offerings because of budget issues and low enrolment.

"We're not talking about losing one or two students, one or two classes," said Dr Wang.

"We're talking about losing the entire programme and the teaching team."