Opportunities for Furthering Education

Te Ao Hou, March 1964, Page 41

Opportunities for Furthering Education The Regular Force Cadets, which boys enter at the age of 15, has a number of Maori lads from all over New Zealand, who are attracted by the exceptional opportunities for securing apprenticeships, or for furthering their education to School Certificate or University Entrance standard at the Army's own secondary school. (This is staffed by fully qualified teachers and run as part of the Regular Force Cadet unit at Waiouru.) The Battalion in Malaya holds a special interest for many young men, offering as it does travel and conditions of service often more varied and exciting than those at home. For the boy who is lacking in formal educational qualifications there is often the opportunity to study further, and to enter trades and occupations within the Army which would not readily be open to him in civilian life. The comparatively small number of Maoris who leave school with School Certificate and University Entrance is, however, causing the Army the same concern as it is employers in other fields. With so many young Maoris in the private soldier and NCO brackets, there should be a much higher proportion of Maoris commissioned as officers. Many men with the necessary qualifications seem to prefer teaching, Maori welfare, and associated occupations where they consider they can be of more benefit to others of their race. Yet with so many Maoris of an impressionable age in the Army, Maori officers can have a tremendous influence in helping and steadying young men of their own race. Several young Maoris have graduated re- Orders for the coming operation. Here 2nd Lieutenant N. A. Kotua (Nelson) points out a part of the planned route to, from left, Sergeant M. Rangiuia (Tolaga Bay), and Captain R. V. Richards (Auckland).

Photographed at the Officer Cadet School, Portsea, Australia, with a fellow student are Officers Cadets Edward Manuera (right) and W. R. K. Wilson. Both these young Maoris have graduated as 2nd Lieutenants since this photo was taken. cently from the Officer Cadet School at Portsea, near Melbourne, Australia. In so doing they point the way for others of our people with the necessary educational and personal qualities. In the class of 43 which graduated in June 1962, 2nd Lieutenant A. R. Kiwi of Raurimu was second and 2nd Lieutenant T. K. Tapuke of New Plymouth was sixth. 2nd Lieutenant Kiwi is a graduate of the Regular Force Cadet School and served for a year in Malaya before attending Portsea. 2nd Lieutenant Tapuke, who has been posted to the Royal New Zealand Engineers, was a school teacher before joining the Regular Army. 2nd Lieutenant Edward Manuera commanded the passing out parade at the December 1962 graduation from Portsea. He also received the Australian Military Board prize for exemplary conduct and performance of duties. Other Maoris who graduated in the same year were 2nd Lieutenants P. S. Sullivan from Auckland, J. Walker from Taranaki, and W. R. K. Wilson of Wairoa. 2nd Lieutenant Wilson, who won the skill-at-arms prize at Portsea, served in Malaya from 1959 to 1961. In 1963 2nd Lieutenant J. Brown, who comes from Waimana in the Bay of Plenty, also graduated from Portsea, gaining 4th place in a class of 80.