Teaching scholarship aims to increase Māori teacher trainees

Matua Manahi Paewai with Year 9 student Juliana Hema.

This week we are excited to share the news that Te Whare Taiao o Rangitāne have launched their Teaching Scholarship for 2024.

The aim of this scholarship is to increase the uptake of Māori teacher trainees and support current teacher trainees with the successful attainment of a Teaching Degree or Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching.

The Teacher Training scholarship is named - Te Hanga o Te Toro (Mātorohanga) Scholarship.

The name of this scholarship was given by Dr. Manahi Paewai and refers to an esteemed man by the name of Te Mātorohanga.

The name is a play on words, meaning the practice (hanga) of extending oneself (toro) to be the best they can be and then helping others to do likewise.

It was in the late 1980s when Manahi’s sister (and herself a teacher) Marama Kingi, told him they were looking to recruit people who spoke te reo Māori for Te Atākura, a one year course for adults to train as teachers.

Manahi had spent 20 years working in the shearing sheds and saw this as an opportunity to re-train in a new career.

He subsequently applied with his sister’s encouragement and was accepted for training at Te Kupenga o te Matauranga in 1990. He graduated at the end of that year as a secondary school teacher.

His teaching career lasted from 1991 – 2019, firstly at Awatapu College, Palmerston North, then he was approached by Te Aute to teach at his old college.

He taught there from 1992 until 2000 when he was again headhunted to teach in Dannevirke at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tamaki nui-ā-Rua where he remained until 2019.

Manahi spent nearly three decades teaching firstly in an English medium school, then bi-lingual and then at a Māori medium school. He has never regretted making the change to teaching and now after leaving teaching he enjoys catching up with his former students and following their careers.

The Te Hanga a Te Toro scholarship is open to those who are enrolled or planning to enroll in an Initial Teacher Education Program (Bachelor’s Degree or Postgraduate Diploma) and are registered iwi members of Rangitāne.

There are two scholarships available this year each lasting one year, and applicants can reapply the following year if they meet the criteria. Funding for the scholarship comes from the Ministry of Education.

The scholarship is tailored to individual needs which may include financial, resources or mentoring support and is also dependent on how many applications are received and how to best utilise the funding.

This scholarship application round opened on the 29th April and is open until 12th May 2024. There is a two-step application process which includes completing a Needs/ Support Assessment and Te Hanga o Te Toro (Mātorohanga) Scholarship Application form. To receive an application form or for any questions or inquiries please contact: poutokokaiako@rangitane.co.nz or Shannon Story, tel 027 444 2198.