Maoris and Technical Education

Technical Institutes and Full-time Students by Noel Harrison Head of General Studies Department Wellington Polytechnic This is the second of four articles about the new polytechnics and the opportunities they offer to young Maoris in search of training. Over the last few years a new model student has appeared on New Zealand's educational scene — the Polytechnic full-timer. This is a student who has committed himself or herself to an intensive course of study which could last from one to four years, in preparation for a particular job. Mata Mihinui, an 18-year-old who gained University Entrance qualifications from Rotorua Girls' High School, is typical of these new students. Mata wants to be a journalist. She's interested in people, in public affairs, and in writing — all essential interests if she's going to be a successful journalist. She's eligible to go to a university, but no university in New Zealand has a course which directly prepares a student for journalism. An arts degree would provide a very useful general background but it is not intended to be preparatory training for work on a newspaper or in broadcasting. The only form of training Mata can get is at the Wellington Polytechnic, which offers a one-year course of 38 weeks, more than 30 hours a week. This type of course is similar to many others provided for full time students in a number of technical institutes. Young men and women, mostly with University Entrance, can train to be electronic data processors, intending to move into the very rapidly expanding world of modern computers. Courses are run for secretaries, for architectural or engineering draughtsmen, fashion and clothing designers, for young people wanting a career in business administration, and for those wanting to become graphic or industrial designers. Not all the seven technical institutes (in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christ-church and Dunedin) have the same courses, but the range is widening each year as increasing recognition is given to the value of such training. Students who come to these courses all have one thing in common — they've Mata Mihinui, the only Maori girl studying journalism at the Wellington Polytechnic, with one of her jellow-students