$500,000 Scholarships Programme Offers Targeted

Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust

MEDIA RELEASE

Friday, 11 January 2012

$500,000 Scholarships Programme Offers Targeted

Support For Māori Development

A major scholarships programme to support the development of Māori business capability and the growth of Māori industry is seeking to fill 50 scholarships for Māori tertiary students in 2013.

Applications are now open for the 50 scholarships worth $10,000 each, which form part of an expanding programme created by Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust, an independent charitable trust set up as part of the Māori fisheries settlement.

Three individual scholarship programmes have been created to target specific areas of Māori economic development, including a new farming and agriculture scholarship being launched this year. Worth a total of $100,000 annually for Māori who are enrolled in farming and agriculture degree-level study, the Whānui Scholarships are the result of an exciting new 50:50 funding partnership between Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust and the Federation of Māori Authorities. Ten Whānui Scholarships worth $10,000 will be offered annually.

The Federation of Māori Authorities is a national body representing Māori trusts and incorporations, the majority of whom are involved in agriculture with dairy, beef or sheep farming operations. The partnership with Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust on this scholarship acknowledges the growing focus on building Māori capability in the farming sector.

In 2011, the Trust – in partnership with the Māori Education Trust – established the annual Tāwera Scholarship of $10,000 each for up to 30 Māori enrolled in business, commerce or management degrees. In 2012 Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust added the Rona Scholarship – 10 scholarships of $10,000 for students working toward a degree in fisheries, aquaculture or marine sciences.

The Tāwera, Rona and Whānui scholarships are symbolically named after stars which early Māori used to guide their voyages and signal important times of the year. The star Whānui (Vega) is associated in Māori tradition with harvesting.

Trust chair Richard Jefferies said the Trust was working closely with Māori business and industry leaders nationally to determine the priorities for strategic education and training initiatives. “There is potential to build the programme in future years with scholarships supporting other key industries,” Mr Jefferies said.

“This is a crucial time for Māori. As iwi settle their Treaty claims and develop economic capability, there is a pressing need for education and training support in general business as well as specific industries.

“Our scholarships are a key element of our strategic focus to lift the number of Māori with management, commerce and industry science skills who will be able to take up middle and senior management roles across a broad range of industries.”

Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust was established in 2004 under the Māori Fisheries Act with a fund of $20m to support education, training and workforce development. Its activities include helping struggling primary school children in a pilot literacy and numeracy programme and investigating new schooling models to lift Māori success in education.

As part of the Trust’s scholarship programme, recipients attend the Trust’s two-day annual conference Ngā Whetū Hei Whai: Charting Pathways for Māori Industry Futures. Mr Jefferies said the national conference provides a valuable opportunity for New Zealand’s future economic leaders to meet the movers and shakers of today’s business world, to learn first-hand from their experiences and insights, and to begin building professional networks.

“Our scholarship recipients are preparing to move into the workforce to gain critical industry experience. They are potential Māori business leaders who, on graduation, will be well-positioned to contribute to economic growth, and many of them have long-term aspirations to use their skills and knowledge to benefit their iwi and the Māori economy generally.”

For more information about scholarship applications, go to Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust’s website www.tpwt.maori.nz

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Caption 1: Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust chair Richard Jefferies and Federation of Māori Authorities chair Traci Houpapa announce the new Whānui Scholarship at the 2012 Ngā Whetū Hei Whai – Charting Pathways for Māori Industry Futures conference in Rotorua.

Caption 2: 2012 Tāwera Scholarship recipient Te Ari Awa (Ngāti Awa, Waikato) puts a question to a speaker at the 2012 Ngā Whetū Hei Whai – Charting Pathways for Māori Industry Futures conference in Rotorua. Te Ari studied for a Bachelor of Business degree at AUT University, majoring in HR Management and Employment.

Caption 3: Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust chair Richard Jefferies.

ENDS

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