An intake of 473 Pacific students entered the University of Auckland this semester, marking an increase from the previous semester. Some 72 of these students were awarded Pacific scholarships , “an outstanding achievement”, said Pro Vice-Chancellor and Pacific Professor, Jemaima Tiatia-Siau.

PVC Pacific Prof.Tiatia-Siau and her team welcomed the 72 Pacific scholarship recipients to the University with an event at the Fale Pasifika ‘Anau ‘Aiga on 26 February.

“This is an outstanding achievement, I personally want to congratulate you… taking a scholarship from Aotearoa’s leading and number one university in this country is not easy, so please take the time to recognise what you have achieved so far, congratulations to you all.”

There were 25 Pacific academic scholarships, 30 Vaka Moana scholarships, 7 Top Achiever scholarships, and 10 Faculty funded scholarships.

Amongst the families of these students were alumni impressed with the efforts to help their young people with the transition into university life.

There were panels from current scholarship students, and breakout introductory sessions with the Accommodation and Campus Care teams that will form a large part of the scaffolding necessary for a successful tertiary journey.

“For some of you this might be the first time you’ve been away from home… if there’s one piece of advice I can offer for your academic journey - stand firm in who you are, and where you come from."

“I challenge you to be bold in your Pasifika greatness in this institution, please ask for help because you should never, ever paddle alone.”

She also called on students’ families to support them as they began to traverse life at the University and also experience living away from home in student accommodation for the first time.

Meanwhile, a lack of preparedness due to inequities for Māori and Pacific learners entering tertiary study saw a new University partnership with a dozen Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland secondary schools, led by Schools and Community Engagement last April. The agreement is helping bring Māori and Pacific on par with non-Māori and non-Pacific students.

Prof. Tiatia-Siau says the partnership is addressing inequities within university, and that while Pacific students work hard to succeed they frequently deal with a multitude of barriers. She says working closely with high schools was crucial to increase the number of young people eligible for university and also improve success rates.

"This positively impacts this generation and future generations. Potentially this could be a game-changer for our communities and also answer the call to increase the numbers of Pacific scholars across all areas of research, teaching and service,” she says.