Te Tihi Edwards of Te Tii and children of Bay of Islands International Academy welcome manuhiri (guests) from the Tertiary Education Commission. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Te Tihi Edwards of Te Tii and children of Bay of Islands International Academy welcome manuhiri (guests) from the Tertiary Education Commission. Photo / Peter de Graaf
NorthTec's mothballed Kerikeri campus has reopened as a partnership between the Whangārei-based education provider and local hapū Ngāti Rehia.
When the campus closed down at the end of 2017 with the loss of seven teaching jobs, it had a falling roll and NorthTec was facing a $4.5 million deficit.
Yesterday's re-launch marked a fresh start for NorthTec in the growing Bay of Islands town.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rehia has been contracted to look after administration and maintenance of what is expected to develop into an educational hub used by a number of different providers, and will shift its offices there from its current premises on Homestead Rd.
Signing the partnership agreement, from left, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rehia chairman Kipa Munro and trustee Nora Rameka, NorthTec chief executive Mark Ewen and NorthTec Council deputy chairwoman Jane Hindle. Photo / Peter de Graaf
NorthTec will offer foundation-level courses in nursing and social services from the start of 2019, but other providers are due to start courses much sooner. Taratahi, a Masterton-based agricultural training institute, will start a beekeeping course this weekend.
The administration block has been leased to Heritage New Zealand, whose seven Northland staff moved in last week. Income from the lease will help make the campus financially viable.
Ngāti Rehia trustee Nora Rameka told yesterday's gathering the partnership was the realisation of the ''moemoeā (dream) of our elders''.
The hapū had tried to buy the then vacant land at the corner of Kerikeri Rd and Hone Heke Rd about 20 years ago for education purposes. They didn't have the money so they contacted what was then Northland Polytechnic, which bought the land and set up the campus.
Rūnanga chairman Kipa Munro said the hapū wanted to bring tikanga onto the site, for example by starting each day with karakia or waiata. The site had been renamed Te Pou o Manako, which he translated as ''the symbol of hope''.
NorthTec chief executive Mark Ewen (centre) speaks during Wednesday's relaunch of the Kerikeri campus. Photo / Peter de Graaf
NorthTec development director Phil Alexander-Crawford said the reopening was part of the Te Taitokerau Regional Investment Plan, a Northland-wide imitative to bring all tertiary education providers together.
Ngāti Rehia would be the site kaitiaki (guardian) and would help drive student recruitment.
It was not the first partnership between iwi and an education provider, but he believed it was the first time the two had been co-located.
''We see it as a new model and an example of how a Treaty-based partnership can work. It will mean changes in the way we work and we welcome those changes.''
Former Maori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels, however, challenged those behind the new venture to examine ''why the wheels fell off last time'' and ensure it wouldn't happen again.
Yesterday's relaunch was attended by NorthTec bosses, funding body the Tertiary Education Commission, Ngāti Rehia, Kerikeri High School, and other organisations such as the Department of Conservation and Heritage NZ. Children from the Bay of Islands International Academy at Te Tii provided the welcome.
Eleven-year-old Hana Para of Kerikeri (right) and schoolmates Bay of Islands International Academy perform a waiata to welcome the guests. Photo / Peter de Graaf
