New trade scholarship for Maori and Pasifika

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic education and Maori development director Kieran Hewitson.

A new scholarship is being offered at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic to encourage Maori and Pasifika people to get involved in a trade.

The scholarship is being funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Tertiary Education Commission to increase the number of Maori and Pasifika students in trades training.

The organisations will work with the polytech, Nga Potiki a Tamapahore, and local industry partners.

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic education and Maori development director Kieran Hewitson said the polytech was offering 32 scholarship places, 16 for carpentry students, eight for automotive students and eight for electrical engineering.

The carpentry course will be the first of the year-long courses offered and starts on May 4.

Anyone aged between 18 to 34 with Maori or Pasifika heritage could apply for the scholarships.

Ms Hewitson said the scholarships were created to help reduce the barrier for Maori and Pasifika students.

"It's a combined effort really. They come in to train, they have to apply to show they have an aptitude and desire to achieve in their chosen trade. We provide that training fees-free for them, then help them into apprenticeships or jobs."

Ms Hewitson said the partnership was working with Nga Potiki a Tamapahore, which was doing housing projects in Tauranga and would benefit from trained tradespeople.

"It's really around increasing employment opportunities for Maori and Pasifika learners who weren't moving into apprenticeships and jobs for various reasons.

"This scheme is to encourage them to get them into apprenticeships and employment.

"Our economic success depends on increasing the skill levels and opportunities of Maori and Pasifika, who will make up a large part of our national workforce in the future."

The Trustees of Nga Potiki Trust said they were thrilled about the training opportunity.

"This is a great opportunity for our rangatahi, Maori and Pasifika. We hope to leverage off the construction boom occurring in the Bay, and Tauranga specifically, and to provide training and work opportunities going forward."

An information night was held about the scholarships last night and another is on April 14 at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic.

More changes
•The aim of the Maori and Pasifika Trades Training initiative is to enable more Maori and Pasifika learners, aged 18-34, to obtain practical qualifications, New Zealand trades apprenticeships and employment.
•The demand for skilled tradespeople is expected to be high over the next several years. The Government is working to align pre-trades training with employers and community needs, to increase the employment opportunities for Maori and Pasifika learners.
- MBIE

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