Wananga ready for next 25 years

MARIE PANAPA, with her art work that features in the exhibition at Te Wananga o Aotearoa, and one of her thousands of past students, Pele Lolesi, who was photographing the exhibition on Friday. TC071008GJ02

BY GRANT JOHNSTON

Marie Panapa was one of the founders of what is now Te Wananga o Aotearoa who so believed in the need for an educational alternative for failing students that she put her house on the line. And 25 years later she is still an educator at the Te Awamutu-based tertiary provider — still loving her role and still looking for ways to facilitate access to education for all.

When she was organising the art exhibition that opened at the Apakura Campus in Te Awamutu last week, tracing the Wananga’s first quarter of a century, some people encouraged her to ‘‘leave out the yucky bits’’.

‘‘But it is about our whole history—the good, the bad, the ugly and the funny — it’s all there.’’

Newspaper clippings, photos and documents chronicle the challenges, as well as the triumphs, that have been integral to the Wananga story. The exhibition opened last Tuesday with a well attended gathering including foundation trustees, staff and students as well as their current counterparts.

Mrs Panapa says the exhibition acknowledges the past and the commitment, courage and vision put in by her fellow six founders, but also looks to a bright future for the institution.

‘‘Rongo (Wetere, former chief executive) came around to see Rewi and I one night. He was on the College Board of Governors and was concerned about the students being disciplined and dropping out of education. Rongo said ‘What if we build a new educational facility, where students can learn practical skills but also the depth of knowledge behind those skills’.’’

Mrs Panapa and her late husband Rewi, along with other founders Joe Arrell, Georgie Ryan, Dick Beamish and Barry Hopkins joined with Mr Wetere in committing themselves to such a project and Waipa Kokiri Arts Centre was born.

The well documented battles between the Crown and the Wananga of a few years ago took their toll on numbers, which dropped from in the 60,000s to the 30,000s, but they have been built up again — up to almost 40,000 this year. Not bad for an organisation that started in a ‘tin shed’ on an old rubbish dump site.

‘‘The fact that it was a tip probably summed up the opinions of a number of Te Awamutu residents to what we were doing—I think many have come over the years to appreciate what it is we are trying to achieve.’’

Mrs Panapa told the Courier that the Wananga is striving to be innovative and visionary in its programme provision — the same as it was when it started as Waipa Kokiri Arts Centre in a tin shed in Factory Road.

‘‘Te Wananga o Aotearoa was not built on limited resources, but rather through unlimited entrepreneurship.’’

Battles with the Crown for funding have continued — just a few months ago a $20 Million suspensory loan withheld for a number of years was singed over.

One part of the exhibition chronicles the vision of Rongo Wetere of ‘stepping outside the square to make a difference’ and that of current CEO, Bentham Ohia ‘What’s good for Maori is good for New Zealand. Sorry, what’s good for Maori is good for the world. Live, love, laugh and learn’.

Ongoing projects include taking Wananga learning to the world through technology — so students anywhere can access the wananga way of learning and programmes, and ‘WaTV’, an inter campus medium that has the potential to be made accessible to a much wider audience.

Mrs Panapa says some of the innovators of the future for the wananga have yet to join the organisation.

‘‘We, and they, will continue to take the wananga forward and to strive to be innovative and creative in our delivery of fabulous products that benefit the wider community.’’

Mrs Panapa has no doubt that the Wananga has a bright future — something she is keen to be a part of.

The exhibition runs through to April. The public are most welcome to attend the exhibition, or to call in to the Wananga to see how the facility runs — both accessed through the Apakura doorway at the centre of the campus.