An initiative giving Cook Islands school leavers a pathway to work full-time and study at a New Zealand university, all while staying close to family, is close to welcoming the final intake of its first cycle.

The workforce behind accountancy firm Socially Conscious Outsourcing (SCO) Rarotonga is made up of Cook Islands high school graduates, who – from the heart of Avarua – take on Kiwi clients while studying part-time towards a Bachelor of Business or Accounting at Massey University.

“This programme was created for students who have the ability to go to university, but can’t,” SCO managing director Davina Hosking-Ashford says.

“It’s to keep the brains here as well, so we can get more Cook Islanders back in the ecosystem.”

Hosking-Ashford says she and her husband, Nick Ashford – one of four partners in SCO’s New Zealand-based parent company, PKF Withers Tsang – have been offering the six-year work-and-study programme since 2019.

Collaborating with Tereora College, the company hires the school’s top Year 13 accounting students and pays their university fees.

“We take them in pairs, so that they have a buddy to work on assignments and to watch lectures.

“Those who started off can mentor the students coming through.”

The inaugural intake of “young professionals” are expected to graduate at the end of 2024, Hosking-Ashford says.

“You have to want to study to be part of this programme. It’s tough,” she says.

“We’ve had to make changes here and there, because this is something new. We don’t have any research to levy off and learn from. It’s all learning for us. We take it year-by-year.”

Hosking-Ashford says the Massey “mini campus” – which is part of the Cook Islands Business Hub, tucked behind ANZ Bank – has been used by other university students, including a Ministry of Finance and Economic Management staff member and others who have “come and gone over the years”.

The idea for the programme was born from Hosking-Ashford’s own experience studying overseas.

“I was born and raised in Rarotonga, but I studied at the University of Auckland. That’s where my husband and I met.

“I struggled financially, and I was missing home. I believe some of those factors can derail a lot of students that go across to New Zealand, or anywhere in the world.”

Hosking-Ashford says they decided to offer the programme through Massey because the university has the “best online learning programme”.

“We couldn’t go with USP (University of the South Pacific) because we’re outsourcing to New Zealand, and New Zealand has its own accounting system,” she says.

“All of our clients are based in New Zealand. That sounds weird, but my husband and I spoke and we would never come home and take work away from a Cook Islander.

“You come back and create your own work. This was thinking outside the box. We have the manpower here and the work is overseas, waiting for us. That’s money coming into the country that’s not taking away from a Cook Islander.”

Hosking-Ashford says 10 young professionals have been invited to the programme since it began nearly five years ago, with the youngest being 16 at the time.

With four people having moved on before finishing their study, the company boasts six employees.

The programme strengthened its relationship with the university earlier this month, when Cook Islander and Massey University student voice facilitator Kiesha Dais visited Rarotonga.

The students took part in two workshops with Dais – the first about how to get the most out of the Student Services Fee, and the second about identifying and harnessing an individual’s unique strengths.

Hosking-Ashford says the students enjoyed the workshops and SCO would be happy to see Dais back to run them again.

Hosking-Ashford says those who complete their degree have the option to pursue a chartered accountant pathway through SCO or its New Zealand parent company, which has 30 accountants – or move on to another job with a New Zealand university qualification and six years’ working experience under their belt.

She says the Business Hub side of the company, which allows businesses around the island to access a computer or the Internet for a small fee, also helps the development of the young professionals – taking them away from their desks to aid and interact with those coming in to use the hub.

“We believe in this ecosystem, so we will keep working at it.”