Historic milestone for NZTC India

A significant milestone has been achieved by New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC) as a result of their early childhood teacher education efforts in India.

Annual graduation ceremonies have been held since NZTC India’s inception in 2009 and on Sunday 22 September, a decade of graduates was celebrated in Mumbai. A luncheon was held at Le Sutra - The Indian Art Hotel with 70 guests attending from throughout India and Sri Lanka.

NZTC Chief Executive Selena Fox, General Manager James Ward and IT Operations Manager Brent Simpson flew in from New Zealand to share in the festivities with graduates and their families.

Thirty-three students graduated with a New Zealand Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care (Level 5), Bachelor of Education (ECE) or Postgraduate Diploma in Education (ECE).

“Today we celebrate NZTC India’s rich history which has many stories of students, graduates, and team members touching many lives. We have graduates in large cities teaching in the highest quality international schools, graduates who have travelled with their qualifications and families to international destinations, and graduates in remote villages who waited for the electricity to come on each day, to undertake their studies, to serve children in their communities,” said Selena Fox.

Special commendation awards were presented to outstanding graduates with Bhavna Rangnani receiving the Most Outstanding Student award and Meherzad Dotivala awarded the college’s treasured Values Award for his true commitment to each of the college values of Vision, Heart, Competence and Spirit.

Graduate representative speaker Abhilasha Sharma shared her Bachelor of Education (ECE) study journey with fellow graduates, reflecting on how her studies have hugely supported her everyday work with children.

“The program complemented what I was doing at work and helped to consolidate that learning quickly and seamlessly. This not only gave me tremendous confidence, it also inspired me immensely to further explore the play-based learning space,” said Sharma.

“It helped me unpack very important and relevant information pertaining to the holistic development of the young learner and through this course I came to understand the impact of inclusiveness and gained a deeper understanding of the importance of community building.”

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