Pasifika education centre’s future uncertain

AUCKLAND – New Zealand’s oldest Pasifika community education provider could be forced to shut because of funding cuts.

The Pasifika Education Centre in Papatoetoe was founded in 1974 to help educate the country’s rising Pacific islander population.

But its future is uncertain with its funding for next year still to be confirmed.

Mangere MP and Labour’s Pacific Affairs spokesman Su’a William Sio says the centre is a “critical community asset”.

“It has provided the opportunities for many New Zealand-born Pacific people to sort of reconnect and learn about their cultures and learn the language.”

But he says the Tertiary Education Commission surprised the centre’s board in May by telling it its funding for next year would be slashed from 80 per cent to just five per cent.

“That’s more than a $700,000 cut. It means if they can’t find that money from external sources, they’ll have to close,” Sio says.

Commission chief executive Tim Fowler says the centre applied for funding as part of the adult and community education funding round for 2016 but no amounts have been settled.

“Organisation that received indicative funding from this round (including the centre) were asked to submit investment plans for consideration prior to final funding amounts being confirmed.

“That process is yet to he completed, therefore no funding amounts have been confirmed for 2016 at this time.”

Sio fears the centre’s work is not a high priority for the Commission.

“I think they could save the organisation and provide more support for Pasifika languages if they wanted to – if that was a priority– but clearly there’s been a pattern to show that this government says one thing but Pacific languages are not important.”

Pasifika Education Centre board chairman, Sal Lealea, says the funding goes toward the teaching of language and culture to generations of New Zealand-based Pacific communities.

The funding issue is “a sensitive situation” which the board hopes will be resolved.

“We have taken our case to the Minister of Pacific Peoples Sam Lotu Iiga. The Minister of Pacific Peoples has indicated he is posiitive of a good outcome.”

Lotu Iiga says the Commission and the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs will continue to work with the centre to find alternative sources of funding.

- Manakau Courier