Successful night for new Māori tertiary students in the trades industry
6 September 2012
A successful night was had for MITE (Māori in Tertiary Education) hosting the Māori Affairs trade training celebration
dinner in partnership with UNITEC. The aim of the event was to showcase and celebrate the employment opportunities for
Māori in the trade and construction industry.
The event was a great occasion to meet founding members of the Māori Affairs Trade Training scheme of old. It was also
valuable for our graduands to build networks and form relationships with key employers and people within the tertiary
sector that could lead them into a positive future in the trades and construction industry.
This is the first time Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has piloted the Certificate in Applied Technology (Carpentry) offered in
collaboration with UNITEC. The programme has been successfully integrated with the current portfolio of programmes that
are offered by TWoA complimenting what the institute already offer to its communities.
It was a great experience for the carpentry students from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa to be a part of this night.
Kaiako of the Certificate in Applied Technology (Carpentry) at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Marty Snee said, “Networking with
industry leaders was a positive outcome for our tauria(students) and highlighted the night with a Haka ‘Tika Tonu’. The exposure to past trade trainees who elaborated on their many experiences as apprentices dating from 1959-89 was a
humbling experience”.
Eru Wilton, Ex- Maori Affairs trainee and Kaiako at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa of the Certificate in Applied Technology
(Carpentry) said, “It was a valuable experience for the tauira (students) to hear the testimonies from the ex-trainees
and their experiences on how they are a part of the growing building industry in New Zealand. It was great to see the
trade and construction industries at the dinner, interacting with the tauira (students) and also with the kaiako
(teachers) growing those healthy networks.”
ENDS