Nā runga anō i tētahi arotake me te mimiti haere o ngā tauira e whai ana i ngā akoranga Pakihi Māori i roto i Ōrauariki (Victoria Business School) kua whakatauhia e te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o Te Ika a Māui kia mutu aua akoranga.
Kua piki ake te tokomaha a ngā tauira Māori i Ōrauariki i roto i ngā tau tata kua pahure nei. I te tau 2000, e whitu paiheneti ngā tauira nō Aotearoa tonu nei i roto i a Ōrauariki, he Māori. I tēnei tau tonu, kua eke ki te tekau paihēneti. Nō reira, kei te tere te piki o ngā ākonga Māori i tēnei wāhanga o te Whare Wānanga, tēnā i ō ētahi atu tauira nō Aotearoa.
Heoi, hei tā Ahorangi Bob Buckle, te Toi Ōrauariki, kāore i eke te tokomaha o ngā tauira i ngā akoranga Pakihi Māori, tēnā i ō ētahi atu akoranga, ā, kua mimiti kē i roto i te tekau tau kua hori. I te tau 2012, e toru rau, ono tekau katoa ngā tauira motuhake (EFTS) he Māori i roto i ā mātou akoranga auraki, engari, tekau noa iho kei ngā akoranga Pakihi Māori. Nō reira, ko te āhua nei kei te whaia e rātau ngā akoranga pakihi auraki.
Hei tāna, ka taea tonu e ngā tauira, kei ngā akoranga Pakihi Māori i tēnei wā, te whakaoti ō rātou akoranga, ahakoa kua kati te kaupapa.
Hei tā Ahorangi Buckle anō, kei a Te Kawa a Māui tētahi akoranga kaitā e kīia ana Māori Resource Management me ētahi atu akoranga hoki e ōrite ana ōna kaupapa ako ki ngā akoranga Pakihi Māori. Ka taea e ngā tauira o Ōrauariki te whai ēnei akoranga mō tā rātou tohu BCom. Ka taea hoki te mahi i tētehi akoranga kaitā, iti rānei o waho i Ōrauariki, pēnā he hononga ki ngā kaupapa o tēnei wāhanga o te Whare Wānanga.
E kī ana a Ahorangi Buckle, ka whawhati mai tētehi pūtea nui mai i ngā moni tautoko i ngā akoranga Pakihi Māori hei hāpai ake i ngā tauira Māori i Ōrauariki whānui me ngā kaupapa hoki e kōkiri ana i te ao ohanga Māori.
Heoi anō, hei tāna, ka wānangatia a Ōrauariki me ngā tāngata whaipānga kia kitea ai he aha ngā huarahi e tika ana mō tēnei.
Victoria Business School (VBS) has experienced continuous growth in Māori student enrolments in recent years with the number of Māori students as a proportion of total domestic students enrolled in commerce at VBS increasing from 7 percent in 2000 to over 10 percent in 2014. That means Māori student enrolments have grown faster than enrolments of other New Zealand students in a Faculty which is on a growth curve.
However, in contrast, says Professor Bob Buckle, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Commerce at VBS, enrolments in the Māori Business Programme never reached levels comparable to those in other programmes and have steadily declined during the last decade. We have 360 Māori Equivalent Full-Time Students (EFTS) in mainstream commerce programmes compared to 10 EFTS in the Māori Business major in 2012, meaning that the vast majority of Māori students have chosen mainstream business programmes.
He says all students enrolled in the Māori Business Programme will be able to complete their course of study, regardless of the closure.
Te Kawa a Māui (TKAM), School of Māori Studies at Victoria, offers a major in Māori Resource Management, alongside other courses, that cover material similar to that offered by some courses in the Māori Business programme says Professor Buckle. Commerce students have the opportunity to include TKAM courses in their BCom degree and can complete an outside minor or outside major in related topics as part of their degree.
Professor Buckle says a significant proportion of the resources which have supported the Māori Business programme will be redirected into activities that can further improve the academic performance of Māori students studying commerce and other initiatives that can help advance Māori economic development.
He says this process will involve consultation with stakeholders to identify appropriate ways to do this.