FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 29, 2012

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa salutes police graduates

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and the police joined forces today (November 29) to salute the success of the tertiary education institute’s police preparation programme.

The NZ Certificate in Career Preparation (Police) was launched by Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in 2009 with the aim of preparing Māori, Pasifika and ethnic minority youth for the intense demands of police training college.

In the three years since the programme was launched, 23 graduates have gone on to complete training at the Royal New Zealand Police College and are now serving in Bay of Plenty, Counties Manukau, Waitemata, Eastern, Waikato and Auckland City districts.

The police have backed the Te Wānanga o Aotearoa programme from the beginning as part of the police service’s drive to promote ethnic diversity within their ranks. Officers have regularly visited Te Wānanga o Aotearoa campuses to assist with the training of students and to share their experiences of life on the beat.

Today at the institute’s Mangakōtukutuku site in Hamilton, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa kaiako, tauira and the police applauded the success of the programme and the officers it had helped to provide.

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa chief executive Bentham Ohia said the partnership continued to help tauira to achieve their potential.

“Te Wānanga o Aotearoa is a place of learning focused on removing barriers to education and employment for all New Zealanders. Through collaboration we have worked together to help ensure the police service continues to reflect the many faces that make up Aotearoa.”

Mr Ohia said it was a privilege to come together to acknowledge the success of graduates.

“The 23 to graduates to date are just the beginning of a partnership that will continue to ensure Māori, Pasifika and ethnic minorities continue to be well represented among police cadets.

We are immensely proud of our 23 graduates who have completed training at the Royal New Zealand Police College and are now serving in Bay of Plenty, Counties Manukau, Waitemata, Eastern, Waikato and Auckland City districts. We look forward to this number increasing next year.”

Mr Ohia said the course was currently delivered from the Auckland, Rotorua and Gisborne campuses and would also be delivered from the Hamilton in 2013.
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Where: Mangakōtukutuku
254 Ohaupo Road, Glenview, Hamilton

When: 12pm till 2pm

ENDS

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