Unitec to support Ngati Whatua’s education

Unitec to support Ngati Whatua’s educational aspirations

A series of discussions that began almost three years ago will see Unitec Institute of Technology and Ngati Whatua o Orakei enter an agreement around establishing educational opportunities between the two parties.

Unitec and Ngati Whatua will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that looks to promote a collaborative working relationship between the two organisations. The MOU will be signed at Orakei Marae today.

Unitec Chief Executive, Dr Rick Ede, says his organisation already has strong historical links with Ngati Whatua and the formal agreement will further enhance this relationship.

“Unitec is very pleased to be able to offer our support to Ngati Whatua o Orakei,” says Dr Ede. “We are committed to continue working closely with Ngati Whatua to come up with new educational initiatives that will support the aspirations and success of their people.”

The first of these initiatives is the establishment of four Unitec Maori Carpentry Scholarships being offered for Ngati Whatua o Orakei descendants who enrol in the programme at Unitec for next year.

There will also be further scholarship opportunities in the near future for descendants of Ngati Whatua o Orakei in other study areas that would benefit the local iwi.

In addition, Unitec will offer five places on its STEP UP programme, which provides senior secondary students with revision and preparation for their external NCEA exams and some Cambridge International Examinations.

Other areas where the two parties are planning to work together include collaborating on research projects.

Ngati Whatua o Orakei CEO Tiwana Tibble says the new agreement formalises a working relationship with Unitec and is a continuation of the relationship formed between the two organisations more than 15 years ago.

“We have been working together on many great ‘win win’ projects for quite a number of years now.

“These include previous scholarship commitments made by Unitec as well as commercial ventures such as the student residential block of 44 apartments to the south western edge of Unitec’s Mt Albert campus, built by a Ngati Whatua o Orakei joint venture on Ngati Whatua land.”

The new agreement comes into effect immediately and will be in force for the next three years.

ENDS