Canterbury University to launch academy to help young Māori prosper

Monday, 8 March 2021

Tokona Te Raki Māori Futures Collective executive director Eruera Tarena says interns at a new academy will become researchers, facilitators, innovators, and change-makers.

The University of Canterbury has committed to helping indigenous rangatahi (youth) prosper with the establishment of a new Māori Futures Academy.

Partnering with Ngāi Tahu’s Tokona Te Raki Māori Futures Collective, the centre will launch in April and give paid internships to 10 rangatahi per year for the next three years.

The cadetships intended to encourage leading-edge thinking, research, and innovative, future-focused skills, so they could then tackle complex real-world projects.

Tokona Te Raki executive director Dr Eruera Tarena has previously spoken about the need for the education sector to address long-standing inequities that leave Māori 'disillusioned' and isolated.

**READ MORE:

Returning to kura kaupapa can empower young Māori into higher-skilled and higher-paid careers.

* Māori high school students unfairly streamed in low-ability classes, report finds

* Encouraging young Māori into business ownership

* Covid-19 could spell another economic downturn for Māori, report warns

The collective had been working on addressing the issues, and already had several paid interns paving the way to help create a better future for Māori.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu chief executive Arihia Bennett said the overarching desire for equity in education, employment, and income for all Māori by 2040 was behind the bold initiative.

She hoped that by the 200-year anniversary of Te Tīrītī o Waitangi, they could celebrate “turning the tide on intergenerational patterns of disadvantage to create a platform of equity that can launch Māori into new and prosperous futures”.

“Our vision is that the academy will provide an opportunity to grow whānau and hapū capability so that whānau are empowered to lead change and build solutions that work for them.”

University of Canterbury vice-chancellor Professor Cheryl de la Rey said the academy fit with its goal of having a direct and innovative partnership with tangata whenua.

“The relationship between the University of Canterbury and Ngāi Tahu has been evolving over a number of years through the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre. The academy provides an opportunity to further strengthen this relationship and ensure we are delivering on our obligations as authentic Treaty partners.”

It would also allow the university to create new degree programmes and micro-credentials, she said.

Tokona Te Raki co-director Sacha McMeeking said rangatahi had strong cultural knowledge, technical expertise and willingness to help change the future.

The academy has start-up funding from Te Puni Kōkiri, and funding from J R McKenzie Trust and the Rata Foundation.