Te Wānanga ō Aotearoa building restored after devastating Auckland flood damage

Inside the restored Te Wānanga ō Aotearoa office building in Māngere. Photo / Whakaata Maori

By Mare Haimona-Riki of Whakaata Māori

The Te Wānanga ō Aotearoa office building in Māngere was one of many buildings destroyed by the floods earlier this year. Now, after eight months of construction, the wānanga has been restored.

“Essentially, the building was devastated, and I don’t use that term lightly,” deputy chief executive Glenn Mckay says.

Te Wānanga ō Aotearoa deputy chief executive Glenn Mckay. Photo / Whakaata Maori

“There was a significant impact on our staff in terms of them not being able to come to work, and it had the same impact on our tauira [students], so those who signed up to come to classes on a weekly basis.”

Students and staff have had to revert to online learning and teaching for the past eight months, but will be returning as soon as next week.

“Soon we will have our graduation for our next group of graduates, which is very important for us here. So we look forward to seeing our students receive their qualifications.”