5 December 2001 Media Statement

IT Awards of Excellence to Maori Teachers

Maori Affairs and Associate Education Minister Parekura Horomia today presented the Laptop Company “Awards for Excellence” to 10 Maori secondary school teachers in an online presentation ceremony involving nine video conferencing sites around the country.

The awards were to teachers who participated in the Hiringa i te Mahara ICT professional development programme for 2001. 200 Maori secondary school teachers have participated in the programme over the past three years. The programme provides teachers with a mix of ICT ’tools’ including a laptop, a polygram for audio conferencing and six months of on-line training with the aim of alleviating workload pressures through building their capability and competencies in computing technology.

Minister Horomia said he was delighted to be asked again to present the awards and marvelled at the opportunities ICT presented school communities in
particular to those at the chalk-face.

“Technology is being used by native and second language speakers of Te Reo Maori throughout the country. Not only can be we break down the barriers of distance but we can make access and participation for Maori teachers in the knowledge society a reality through programmes like this that build ICT fluency as well as te reo fluency.”

Apryll Parata, of Gardiner Parata the project managers, said that the ICT programme is consistently 200% over subscribed by teachers wanting to participate.

“It’s very competitive - which is great - and 2001 has been no exception. The curriculum resources being developed through the programme in a range of multi-media technologies are simply “awesome”.

The Minister congratulated the Award winners and all the participants in this year’s programme. “Having more Maori teachers who understand how to use and apply technology in the classroom is excellent. In the long run this has got to be good for the children of Aotearoa.”

ENDS

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