(Picture caption: Toloa Awards guestspeaker Tuputau Lelaulu, Founder of Mau Studios and former Toloa scholar.)
A record number of Pacific secondary school and tertiary students will get a hand-up with their education in 2022, thanks to the Toloa Fund.
A total of 238 Toloa Secondary School Scholarships across 83 schools and 50 Toloa Tertiary Scholarships have been presented to Pacific youth around New Zealand, and recognised at the Toloa Awards on March 9.
Pacific Peoples Minister Hon Aupito William Sio says it is the first year the Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP) Toloa initiative is offering scholarships to secondary school students, which hopefully results in more Pacific people studying and working in the Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, Mathematics (STEAM) fields.
“We are are delighted to offer secondary school students a scholarship which covers school fees and equipment for one year to the maximum of $2,000 for the first time, this year,” Minister Sio says.
“Now in its seventh year, the Toloa Fund is most certainly achieving its goal of helping Pacific Aotearoa thrive, with this unprecedented number of scholarships.”
Along with the 238 secondary school scholarship recipients, 50 Pacific students have received tertiary scholarships, which covers tuition fees and compulsory course related fees up to $10,000 for one year of fulltime study for STEAM-related courses and subjects.
The Minister adds empowering Pacific Aotearoa is a priority of this Ministry, and education is one way to achieve this goal.
“We wish the students the very best of luck as they pursue their dreams.”
Toloa Capability funding is for emerging providers to build their capability and capacity for delivering STEAM programmes to Pacific communities, and this year 10 applicants have been presented with funding - eight in Auckland and two in Wellington and recognised as part of the Toloa Awards.
Additionally, six providers – from Auckland, Palmerston North, Hamilton and Porirua will receive funding from the Toloa Substantial Provider Fund, which supports proven and experienced providers to deliver Pasifika-centric STEAM programmes.
“Congratulations to all our Toloa Fund recipients - they will surely pave the way for Pacific Aotearoa,” Minister Sio says.
This year’s Toloa Awards were staged online due to COVID-19 restrictions, you can watch the event HERE.
Visit the MPP website to see a full list of recipients for the 2022 Toloa Secondary and Tertiary Scholarships, and the Toloa Substantial Provider and Toloa Capability Funds.