Talented young Māori rise to The Challenge
Hon Hekia Parata
Minister of Education
5 September
2016
Talented young Māori rise to The
Challenge
A Year 12 student who wrote an essay in te reo Māori drawing on his experiences during a pilgrimage to war sites in Europe has won the Supreme Award in a school competition honouring the 28th (Māori) Battalion, Education Minister Hekia Parata announced today.
Carlos Paenga, from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Waiū o Ngāti Porou, impressed the judges with his essay and took out the top award in the Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Board Challenge.
“Carlos used his own experiences and studied letters and personal accounts of soldiers to create an essay that the judges said was ‘perceptive, original and unique’. It connected deeply with the kaupapa of The Challenge,” says Ms Parata.
The Challenge is a multimedia competition open to Years 7-13 students of Māori descent. Entrants had two choices: to explore and express how Māori were viewed in New Zealand after World War II and the Battle of Crete, or cover why it was important to commemorate World War I battles with particular focus on the Battle of the Somme.
The winners receive cash prizes from the Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund, which was established in 1945 to commemorate the service of the Battalion and Second Lieutenant Ngārimu, the first Māori to earn the Victoria Cross.
“I’d like to congratulate each of this year’s winners who successfully rose to The Challenge. They have set the bar high for next year,” says Ms Parata.
Carlos’s essay, 75 Tau o Te Pakanga o Kirīti i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao”, and other place-getting entries can be found here.
Place-getting video entries can be found here.
ends