Students at a recent goal-setting workshop at Tupu Toa.
Three of our students have been selected for internships at corporate businesses, through the Tupu Toa programme.
Tupu Toa is an innovative internship programme creating pathways for Māori and Pasifika students into careers in the corporate and professional sectors.
An information evening in Te Puna earlier this year saw 30 interested students learn about Tupu Toa. This was a great collaboration of our teams and Tupu Toa; the event was organised by our Industry Workforce Team, sponsored by our Pacific Centre, and the Career Development team supported the applicants with submitting their CVs and application letters.
From 470 applications, 151 internship opportunities were awarded throughout New Zealand. Of our three students, Māori student Natasha Bettridge has been placed at PwC and Papua New Guinean Israel Gandi is yet to find out where he’ll be placed. Melvin Leavasa, who has been studying Construction Management has decided not to pursue the internship as he’s taken an opportunity in his home country of Samoa.
Sione Taunga, Student Navigator at Tupu Toa said our three students were well-deserving recipients. “An attribute that they all have is an open mind to opportunity with a willingness and appreciation to make the most of it with the understanding that there are various pathways to reach their desired dreams. They possess great humility and are very open to learning as much as they can. Additionally, they are diverse in their areas of study with Natasha studying IT and Israel studying Engineering” said Sione.
Niko Tominiko, Director Pacific Success, said “It’s great to see that our Pacific students can compete with other Pacific students and be successful in obtaining these internship opportunities, which most often get given to student who apply from Universities! I’m grateful to Tupu Toa for coming to Unitec and encouraging our Pacific students to apply, and thankful for the support that both our Industry Workforce and Careers teams have given to our Pacific students”.