A hugely successful programme that helps Māori high school students excel in science, technology, engineering and maths
is now being overseen by an independent Māori trust, which will strive to become a global exemplar at the interface of
science and Indigenous knowledge.
The Pūhoro STEM Academy was set up at Massey University in 2016 to work with local high schools to accelerate Māori
studentsuccess in STEM subjects, and prepare them for a smooth transition to tertiary study. Six years later, Pūhoro
rangatahi are five times more likely than other Māori school leavers to transition from secondary to tertiary education
at degree level.
In April, Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced a three-year funding package for Pūhoro to grow the number of
students from 1,000 to 5000, and expand the programme to include at least two new regions annually.
Manahautū and Pūhoro founder Naomi Manu says that this development is years in the making noting that ‘we will continue
to engage rangatahi and whānau in much the same way noting that enhancements to the kaupapa will come as we look to
expand and grow’.
Today the Pūhoro Charitable Trust, created by, with, and for Māori, has responsibility for Pūhoro. The six inaugural
Board members are experienced leaders from across the Research Science and Innovation sector and Te Ao Māori. They are:
Robin Hapi (Co-Chair), Dr Jessica Hutchings (Co-Chair), Sir Mark Solomon, Tahu Kukutai, Meika Foster; and, Pūhoro STEM
Academy Founder and Manahautū /Chief Executive Naomi Manu.
The Trust will deliver an enhanced STEMM kaupapa that recognises the value of mātauranga Māori alongside traditional
STEM disciplines. Pūhoro Co-Chair Robin Hapi says the Trust wanted to acknowledge the inclusion of science within
Mātauranga Māori, Mātauranga-ā-iwi and Mātauranga-ā-hapū and the role that our knowledge systems bring to illuminate the
minds of our rangatahi. “It is a very timely transition with the recent debate around the place of Mātauranga within our
education system. We want Pūhoro to be a global exemplar of what excellence for rangatahi looks like at the interface of
science and Indigenous knowledge systems”.
In mid-August, with the support of Waikato-Tainui Iwi, Pūhoro Charitable Trust signed a new three year agreement with
Waikato University to support the expansion of the Pūhoro kaupapa across the Waikato region.