Press release

Establishment of Cook Islands Tertiary Training Institute                                    

 April 2013

Sharyn Paio has announced the establishment of the Cook Islands Tertiary Training Institute to provide post school education and training in the Cook Islands. The National Sustainable Development Plan and Education Master Plan set ambitious goals for increasing the level of skills and qualifications in the population and this new institute provides the capability to achieve those goals. 

The Institute will deliver face to face, on-line and employer-based programmes of learning and make these accessible to learners throughout the country. It will develop programmes of learning to address the needs of young people currently disengaged from the labour market and develop new programmes for employer based training and on-line learning. It will also act as the facilitator for one off programmes in partnership with other government agencies and large employers. The Institute will incorporate the programmes currently provided by the Ministry of Education through the Hospitality/Tourism and Trades schools. It will continue to use NZ qualifications where appropriate and will explore other international qualifications where they are more suitable to the needs of the Cook Islands. It will also develop courses and qualifications to meet local industry requirements.

The Ministry of Education will retain responsibility for strategic development, education system performance and quality assurance. The Ministry will also provide the support services such as the payment of salaries, operating expenses, human resource management and information technology.

The Ministry of Education will allocate funding as it does to other educational organisations in the Cook Islands and will set expected annual performance outcomes. The Director of the Institute will be responsible to the Secretary of Education.

The Cook Islands face multiple challenges in strengthening the skills of its population. The population is small, highly mobile and works in the labour markets of the Cook Islands, NZ and Australia. Resources are limited and the local labour market requires a limited number but a wide range of skills. By focusing on the needs of employers and supporting training through the use of e-learning, the Cook Islands has the opportunity to create a flexible and rigorous system of skill development that is customized to meet the needs of its population. This will be a modern “polytech type Institute’ where its classrooms will be the workplaces of the country and its library will be the learning resources available on the World Wide Web. By harnessing these two core elements, with innovative and skilled educators, the Cook Islands will have the capability to deliver skills across a wide range of areas customized to meet the needs of individual learners and individual employers.

The position of Director to lead the Institute is currently advertised on our website. The Institute, which brings together the excellent work of the Trades and Hospitality/Tourism Schools as well as other tertiary providers and will be operational by mid-year. There will be no disruption to current training provision.

 Further information:

How does this differ from DNHRD?

DNHRD’s function was primarily administrative. It was established to administer the funding for training. This new institute is an educational institute; its core function is educational. It will be responsible for delivery of high quality education and training. It will have skills in educational leadership, programme design, adult learning and teaching, and educational quality assurance. It will be a provider and broker of training.

What skills will be taught? The institute will develop courses in response to local demand. It will continue with those programmes such as the chef training or solar energy design and installation where there is sufficient demand for face to face training. For other areas it will have the capability to develop customized training to meet the niche needs of individual employers and learners.

Where will it be located? It will have the two main campuses at the existing Trades and Hospitality/Tourism schools and establish at other sites as required. It is also establishing a site at Vaitau School in Aitutaki and Niua School in Pukapuka

Where will the Funds come from? From the consolidation of the current funds provided by the Cook Islands Government and The NZ Aid Programme. The Ministry is also exploring what level of complementary funding should be generated by fees and through the provision of some training services to industry.

What about qualifications? The institute will be accredited to deliver qualifications on the NZ qualifications framework as well as other qualifications such as London City and Guilds or Microsoft. Maintaining credible qualifications is important as many Cook Islanders will use these qualifications to work internationally. Qualifications also play a role in strengthening local standards of practice. For example, having qualified and registered electricians and plumbers makes a significant contribution to the safety and quality of buildings. Qualifications do not come without some cost and so there will have to be some investment in quality assurance processes.

What about the Pa Enua? Training for our Sister Island communities is very important and they are supported by three different approaches. Firstly, students from the Pa Enua are subsidized to attend specialist courses in Rarotonga. For example, the solar energy course currently operating includes students from Manihiki, Aitutaki, Atiu and Mitiaro. Secondly, the trades and hospitality/tourism schools have established a programme of delivering some courses in each of the Southern group islands. We will look at how we extend this to the Northern group. The third approach is the appointment of local training brokers to arrange customized training based on the local needs of each island. We have started this approach in Aitutaki and are developing a programme for delivery in Pukapuka. The response to these programmes is very positive. The challenge is to develop training arrangements that will meet the needs of each of these very different communities. We will learn from what we are doing on these two islands and hopefully extend the same approach to other islands.

Will this help At Risk Young People?  We have developed an approach to training based on assessing the needs of each student and customizing a training response to address those needs. This is proving particularly effective in re-engaging some young people into the community. The young people referred from the social services or justice system become active participants in a wide range of courses, developing the skills needed for employment. The key to this is the focus on what a young person wants to become and not being forever defined by some of their past misadventures.

What is in this for employers? Skilled staff make a significant contribution to business profitability. For upskilling existing staff the new school will have the skills to advise on the assessment of prior learning and develop training programmes within the workplace that can lead to qualifications. Secondly, employers may offer internships to young people to give them industry experience to complement a course of study a student may have chosen. Experience elsewhere shows these are very effective strategies for helping young people gain employment and assisting employers to recruit suitable staff.

 Will this help school/work transition?  Tereora College has started programmes to increase the level of practical learning experiences available to students. The new institute will complement Tereora’s programmes through offering some of its courses in schools, and school students will be given places on some institute courses. We already have a student who is doing both a school programme and a trades programme simultaneously. We will continue to work with the school to set up more of these dual pathway opportunities for young people.

What are these one off arrangements? An example is the work we are doing with the Ministry of Health in establishing a nursing programme. MoH have identified the need for trained nurses and the level of skills required. We have supported this through advice on developing the training and the provision of funding to ensure that the Cook Islands have well trained and qualified nurses.

Where will the staff come from? We will use existing MoE staff as much as possible, however, where there is the need to recruit outside our Ministry, we hope to attract qualified local skilled people. We currently have a strong pool of local tutors and we will be looking to expand that. For the leadership positions we will be advertising widely and will endeavour to find suitable applicants locally.  As a last resort, we may need to counterpart local staff with skilled people employed on a short term basis to upskill our current work force.

What are these new technologies?  The new institute will have an electronic student management system. This will provide a central record of activities and will be able to track and report on all learning activities both by provider, by qualification, by student, and by employer. All students will be enrolled in this and it will form the base information for the institute. There will be a learning management system, moodle or similar, that will help students manage their learning programme. To support this we are developing an e-learning hub. This is a repository of learning resources that will be available to support learners. For example, we may have the learning resources necessary to support learning in the Microsoft suite of products or it may be the theory component of a qualification in electrical or automotive. This will be built up over time as we discover new learning resources and respond to requests from learners.

1  Tania Akai-Allsworth - Excellence in Early Childhood Education

• Originally joined MoE in 1989 as a student teacher.  Left in October 1994 and returned in January 2004.
• Has received an excellence performance rating for each year of service since she returned to the Cook Islands.
• Committed and dedicated to ECE, Tania displays excellent teaching strategies and high quality pedagogical practice and techniques in her ECE centre.
• Fluent in Cook Islands Maori language, dance and culture, Tania has instilled this passion in the students through her innovative delivery of the ECE curriculum which incorporates her wealth of traditional knowledge and skills.
• Tania has worked collaboratively with her PTA to source funds for her Centre to strengthen the range of programmes able to be offered to her students.
• Using her overseas exposure and experiences, Tania mapped out a study tour and visitation programme for her ECE pupils which enabled them to visit Aitutaki this year.  While on Aitutaki, they visited all the ECE centres on the island and made donations on behalf of her Centre.
• Tania’s initiative, ability to be innovative, and creativity has seen her record each child’s development throughout their time at her Centre.  When children leave the Centre to commence school, she presents each child with a history of their ECE journey.
• As well as providing excellent leadership to her own ECE Centre, Tania is always actively supportive of other ECE teachers on Rarotonga and has lead the monthly ECE Teacher Workshops for Rarotonga.
• Parents, guardians and members of the Titikaveka Community as well as senior Ministry of Education Staff all acknowledge and are extremely complimentary about Tania’s dedication and tireless efforts for the children of the Titikaveka ECE Centre.

2  Engia Pate – Excellence in School Leadership

• Demonstrates strong leadership skills and has a clear vision for the future direction of her school.
• Establishes systems and processes that ensure the school vision and mission will be achieved.
• Has a thorough knowledge and understanding of current effective practice and promotes this within her school, for example: integrated approach to learning across the whole school.
• Good understanding of the Cook Islands curriculum and encourages a holistic approach to student learning.
• Has the respect of her staff and has encouraged and developed a collegial atmosphere in her school, which includes developing and strengthening positive relationships with the wider school community
• Ensures that the school has a positive learning environment for all students.
• Engia has a professional and inclusive approach to school management.
• Not afraid to ask for support when required and is always grateful for the support she receives.
• Has accomplished a great deal for her school throughout her period as Principal.
• Her great words of encouragement and self determination influence the staff to perform to the best of their ability
• She cares about her students and she drives a hard bargain for the school making sure that she gets everything she possibly come for her school.
• She loves her Cook Islands culture very much and lives it daily.
• She is reliable and gets along well with her staff
• She commits fully to all opportunities to improve her professional knowledge, including workshops and study opportunities that will up skill her and keep her abreast of latest trends and educational thinking.
• Graduated on 19 August 2011 with a Post Graduate Diploma in Education – she undertook her studies while managing her school and never compromised her leadership standard – was able to balance her commitments with ease
• Has been principal at Takitumu since 2009.
• Has just completed the Auckland University First Time Principals’ Residential course over the past 18 months and has always met her obligations on time and to her normally high standard.
• Has really pushed Maori language in her school and we now see many parents choosing Takitumu School for their children because they know that Engia will ensure that Cook Islands language and culture is being promoted in everything they do.

3  Tania Morgan – Excellence in Teaching - Rarotonga

• Has had excellent performance reviews for each of the 8 years that she has been employed at Tereora College – an outstanding achievement.
• Regularly voted Tereora College teacher of the term and year since the awards were introduced in 2006.
• Students say that she is “the best at what she does”.
• They say that: “Her enthusiasm towards your learning motivates you to try harder in class or to do the best you can and never give up.”
• She encourages students and her commitment to their learning is endless.  “She gives piles of repetitive homework questions and revision work which soon becomes early to learn because ‘practice really does make perfect”.
• Students state that:  “Her will for you to succeed makes you push beyond your limits making sure that you give your education everything you have got”.
• Students say that Tania deserves recognition for the positive impact that she has made on the lives of so many students – she begins as your teacher but ends up as your friend – you know you can rely on her.
• Not only has Tania managed the Maths Department at Tereora in previous years, she has also held the position of Principal’s Nominee with responsibilities for all NCEA examinations for the College and is the school timetable.
• Tania never compromises her standards and sets herself very high goals which she always achieves.
• Tania regularly offers students extra tuition to help those who are struggling.
• Over a period of some 8 years, students in Tania’s classes have achieved many of the highest marks received in external examinations by Tereora Students including many Merit and Excellence endorsements from NZQA.

4  Ingrid Stewart – Excellence in Teaching – Sister Islands

• An outstanding role model for teachers and parents alike.
• Exceptionally hard working – principal of the school as well as almost full time teacher.  Ingrid is in and out of the classroom as well as in the office.
• Administration work is done after school hours as she is teaching full time every day, often leaving school around 6 pm only to continue working at home preparing for the next day.
• Ingrid has come from a secondary teaching background and has adapted very well to primary teaching, so well in fact that she teaches many of us who have taught in primary for a good number of years, some really helpful techniques and new ideas
• Ingrid is always promoting environment awareness in and out of the school and has pushed and continues pushing, to make the school a clean and friendly learning environment
• Enterprise initiatives are a passion of hers and she has integrated this with environment awareness.  Starting a school garden and having pigs and goats in the school, making jam and selling it at the market, having food stalls on sports days, running a canteen with her class, as well as many other exciting student driven projects.
• The students benefit from it so much and have great fun learning too.
• Ingrid is consistently on a mission for resources for our school.  We now have things that we never thought we would ever have, like a ride on lawn mower, white boards, more than one laptop, a large sandpit, money in the bank and so much more.  Her first priority is the school and its students’ education.
• Ingrid is also always looking for human resources to help with reading and other special needs or at risk students (another of her passions), to work in the library and to do some maintenance jobs around the school.
• We have had an Olympic sailor (Helema Williams), a number of yachters, Ian Karika (Canoeing Society and bird man) and our number one handy man, her husband Greig helping out.
• Ingrid likes to try alternative approaches to help those with learning difficulties.
• She started a sailing club at school and picks up students on Saturdays to go sailing.  The students love it and have achieved lots of recognition in sailing because of her encouragement and time.
• Health and wellbeing is another ongoing mission for Ingrid.  She regularly provides sandwiches for children who have no lunch or have not had breakfast.
• She visits homes and talks to parents regularly to discuss student issues such as truancy, health, school work, achievements, behaviour and other day to day issues.
• Ingrid also works hard with and for the staff.
• She holds regular professional development sessions and tries to keep everyone up dated with teaching methods and techniques in all areas of the school life.  Ingrid is constantly trying to encourage the staff to improve professionally, by attending workshops and courses, which by the way she also makes an effort to attend.  She was recognized by the Cook Islands Football Ass. as the only Principal who attended their Just Play workshop.  This really boosted the staffs pride and motivation to do better and attend more of these workshops.
• Ingrid makes every effort to help and support the staff in every way.  If she is not sure of what to do she will find someone who can do it or read up on the subject late into the nights, just so staff can develop more, professionally.
• She makes time to visit classrooms and gives lots of constructive feedback.  It really shows that she cares about what her staff are doing and shows that she has high expectations and goals, that she expects to be achieved.
• Ingrid is always promoting the school and its achievements, as many have seen in the Cook Island News.  It just proves how much the school and everyone involved with the school mean to her.
• Ingrid really has really made Vaitau School a great and happy place of learning and living, for students, staff and the community alike.  There are so many more things to say, however, we will finish here with how Ingrid has really brought to life the Vaitau School motto….”Ei Turama”
• I add to these accolades from staff of Vaitau School how amazed I was when I recently visited Ingrid’s school – I was lucky enough to experience some of the richest integrated teaching I have seen for years.  Not only does Vaitau School have goats but they are planning how they can milk the goats to make cheese.  Students sourced the cheese recipes on the internet; then made cheese from the milk.  We enjoyed their creation for morning tea.  Cheese making integrated so much learning from a range of areas – science, health, mathematics, literacy, ITC, financial literacy etc etc.  Students were also measuring water temperatures in a solar shower every half hour and learning graphing and solid numeracy techniques as well as prediction and explanation of why things happen.
• When Ingrid first took over as Principal of Vaitau, the school looked nothing like it does today.  She personally scrubbed, painted, refitted classrooms to improve the learning environment for children.
• She certainly deserves this award.

Rationale:

The Cook Islands Teaching Awards for Teaching Excellence recognizes educators and staff who are helping Cook Islands students and young children realize their full potential, in particular Cook Islands teachers and principals. This is an opportunity to give remarkable Cook Islands professionals the recognition they deserve.

Who is Eligible?

All primary and secondary teachers employed in a school or ECE centre in the Cook Islands.

Suggested Award Categories: Note that in some years more than one award may be given for a particular category whilst in other years, if there are no suitable nominees, an award may not be made.

Excellence in Leadership – Sister Islands Schools

Excellence in Teaching – Sister Islands Schools

Excellence in Early Childhood Education

Excellence in Leadership – Rarotonga Schools

Excellence in Teaching (Primary/Area School) – Rarotonga Schools

Excellence in Teaching (Secondary) – Rarotonga Schools

Criteria:

· Promotes Cook Islands Language and Culture

· Demonstrates enthusiasm for teaching and learning - displays (passion for teaching)

· Makes an exceptional contribution to the school and the local community

· Inspires students to take on new challenges and reach their full potential

· Creates relevant, appropriate, innovative and challenging opportunities that help students learn e.g. integrates new technologies

· Is a role model and an inspiration to the education community

· Connects learning to student interests and to their lives beyond the classroom

· Uses relevant teaching methods to match student learning styles and needs

· Demonstrates a thorough understanding of curriculum

· Demonstrates a thorough understanding of assessment and evaluation practices

· Is committed to their own professional development to enhance teaching excellence

Nominations for Leadership positions will consider the above criteria plus:

· Demonstrates effective and innovative utilisation of resources

· Displays a sound knowledge of curriculum and pedagogy

· Maintains an environment where excellence from staff and students is encouraged and achieved

· Demonstrates effective and current leadership practice.

Selection Panel:

The selection panel ensures transparency in the selection process; evaluates the nominations and recommends recipients of the awards to the Secretary of Education.

Each panel member represents a different perspective. The panellists will comprise:

· A member of the Ministry of Education Review Team

· A Ministry of Education Learning and Teaching Advisor

· The Early Childhood Education Advisor

· A member of the Ministry of Education Language Team

The panel will elect their own chairperson who will be responsible for ensuring that the panel reaches a consensus and that everyone is involved in the selection process.

Process:

Students, teachers, principals, parents, school committees, island councils, Ministry of Education advisory staff and other relevant stakeholders may submit nominations on the approved nomination form by the required deadline.

The selection panel will meet to consider all nominations. They will verify all evidence provided to support nominations and rank the top three nominations in each category according to the prescribed criteria.

The nominees will make their recommendation to the Secretary of Education who will consult with the Ministry of Education senior management team before confirming the recipients of these awards.

Attachments:

Cook Islands Outstanding Teacher Award.doc	[ ]	59 Kb
Cook Islands Teacher Award Nomination Form 2012.doc	[ ]	64 Kb

It is a great pleasure to stand here today and welcome you all to the official opening of our new Ministry Building - Are Akarangatiraanga. On behalf of the staff of the Ministry of Education (including staff from DNHRD who are soon to be part of our Education family) we are truly grateful to you all for sharing this momentous occasion with us.

The completion of this building is like a dream come true. It is the realization of a vision. For years, the MoE has felt homeless as it moved from one place to another with no fixed abode. Coming back to Nikao in January 2012 was like coming home to where we belong.

The First MoE office in the 1950’s was beside the Avarua stream where the current Minister of Education and Crown law is based. This office housed the Ministry of Education Secretary and Administration Staff; the Curriculum production unit; and Cook Islands Radio. At this time the MoE curriculum lecturers were housed at the Teachers’ College which was then situated at Side School – now Nikao Maori Primary School – where the current MOE stationery and consumables are stored.

When the Ministries of Health, Education and Social Services (now Internal Affairs) amalgamated in the 1960’s, there was insufficient space for them all at these premises and thus they relocated to Tupapa where the current Ministry of Heath administration block is based. The Minister of Education at this time was Tupui Ariki Henry.

In the early to mid 1970’s Social Services moved away and Health and Education remained at the Tupapa premises with Joe Williams as their Minister. It was when the Health and Education Ministries had different Ministers appointed that these Ministries were separated. MoE was told to move to the Aitutaki Hostel and were there for approximately three years before being moved to Tereora in the 1980s where they were housed in the former Outer Islands students’ hostel (Are Kaute Hostel). Considerable renovations were needed to the Hostel to make it fit for the MoE to move into.

In 2007, the Ministry had to move out of their premises in Tereora again – this time to make way for the building of the TSA Indoor Stadium. The MoE relocated back to the Aitutaki Hostel for what was to be one year while new premises were built for them. In fact the MoE stayed at the Hostel until it moved to these new premises on 16 January 2012. It wasn’t until February 2008 that the government was able to confirm with China a loan of approximately $13 million and $1.3 million of this amount was allocated for the construction of the new Ministry of Education building. The successful local contractor to build the premises was Mike Rennie and the architect was Romani Katoa, with the project managed by MOWEPP and later MOIP with support from CIIC. Local contractors were employed for all aspects of this project.

Solar panels are to be funded by the NZ Government with installation due to commence next month. The impact of the solar power installation will reduce power consumption and generate expected savings in the vicinity of $25,000 pa.

The People’s Republic of China is providing new furniture for this building to the value of $100,000. We expect this furniture to arrive in Rarotonga by September 2012 and now we have the beautiful building you see today.

• Our landowners – meitaki maata for allowing this building to be erected on your land;
• our politicians (past and present) who supported the Ministry of Education in its endeavours to have its own building;
• the Republic of China for approving the funding for both this building and the new furniture which is expected to arrive in September;
• the New Zealand Government for supporting the installation of solar panels to help us conserve energy and direct our budget directly to education rather than costly power bills;
• the designer (Romani Katoa) for your inspiration and foresight in designing such a wonderful work environment for us all;
• Mike Rennie and your team for the outstanding workmanship and expert finishing of the building;
• Donye Numa and your team for putting up with my constant nagging and your management of the building project;
• Steve Anderson and all the other local contractors who helped complete this building. 

We really did “Go Local” and there is no greater testament to the skills and abilities of our own people than to see a building such as this completed to such a high standard, comparable with anything you would see built overseas in countries with far greater wealth and populations than we have. Meitaki Maata.

I wish to also make special mention of Anthony Turua from our Ministry who oversaw this project on our behalf. I must also mention Ian George, our Arts Advisor whose art work, along with that of past and present teachers and students, adorns our walls. I would also like to thank Ian for putting up with my colour selection for the exterior walls and for his flair with choosing the colours for the interior. I am sure that you will all agree, the end result is pleasing to the eye and certainly is a wonderful environment within which to work.

I wish to extend a special thank you to our Minister, Hon. Teina Bishop, who continues to provide his support to our Ministry and to education in the Cook Islands, and to the staff of Maraurai o te Pai Apii who have worked so hard to make this day special for all of us. It is an honour to represent my staff on such an occasion as this, and I take a moment to acknowledge previous secretaries of education, who perhaps were not as fortunate as me to have such a beautiful office and work environment.

• Late Rangi Moekaa (Secretary of Education for approx. 4 years) during Tupui Ariki Henry’s time as Minister of Education
• Ngareteina Puna who served in this position during the tenure of Joe Williams as Minister of Education
• Tuingariki Short (Secretary for approximately 6 years) during the tenure of Tangata Simiona as Minister of Education
• Lionel Browne (was Secretary of Education for approximately 11 years) during Ngareteina Puna’s time as Minister of Education

And more recently:

• Eric Ponia (for approximately 2-3 years)
• Ken Matheson
• Late Mii Rairi (who sadly passed away shortly after being appointed); and
• John Herrmann

I have now held this position myself for the past almost 3 years and whilst it has been challenging at times, it has also been a privilege and honour to be entrusted with this responsibility.

The challenge for us all now is to continue to aspire to and achieve the best possible educational opportunities and outcomes for all Cook Islanders. We have the building but it is the work that goes on inside it that will make the real difference to the future development and growth of this country. That is our challenge as we strive to achieve our strategic vision to build the skills, knowledge, attitudes and values of Cook Islanders to put their capabilities to best use in all areas of their lives and, to achieve this by providing a dynamic and professional environment which promotes and supports life-long learning through the provision of quality services.

This Vision epitomizes our aspirations and is the challenge that guides our direction and purpose. In this building – may it truly be achieved and may education become the catalyst for real economic growth and development in the Cook Islands.
Kia orana e Kia manuia

Sharyn Paio
Secretary of Education

The first day of school is today with schools currently going through their enrollment process.

The Ministry of Education is currently moving premises from the Aitutaki Hostel to its new premises in Nikao. We appologise for any inconvinience caused.