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Te Pukenga survey reveals

A newly released survey of staff at Te Pukenga finds one in three staff do not believe they have a future with the new mega polytech, and the vast majority would not recommend working there to family or friends.The survey was conducted in October and November last year and responded to by over four thousand three hundred staff, or 50 per cent.The results show only 12% of those surveyed said they understood how the changes will impact on them and the work they do. Staff reported feeling anxiety a...

Collecting Māori census data

A leading Māori demographer says Statistics New Zealand needs to adopt a wider whānau approach to improve collection of census data from and about Māori and Pacific populations.Professor Tahu Kukutai from Waikato University’s Te Ngira Institute for Population Research says Stats NZ learned a lot from the troubled 2018 Census, where responses fell to 83 per cent.The 2023 census is tracking even worse as it operates in a low trust environment with a lot of disinformation in the community.As o...

Youth plan pitched for Hamilton

Amidst frustration about youngsters doing ram raids and robberies, Hamilton’s council is considering a wider youth action plan.This would be on top of a recent $1m from the Government for crime prevention, for which a project list is nearly complete.City councillors, some wary of forking out extra money on a plan, have agreed to have a working group look at how existing youth organisations could work closer with the council.A gap analysis will also see what new youth sector initiatives are nee...

Lifting the veil:

In the old days of medical education, little thought was given to the emotional and spiritual weight of dissecting a human body. First-year medical student Ronan Payinda explains how that’s changed – and not just for those holding the scalpel.Before I first cut into a dead body, it was as if there had been a curtain blocking me from a clear view of mortality. It was a veil that spared me from thinking about what the people I had known in life would look like in death.For a couple of years be...

'Much harder being a student in 2023':

Universities and students' associations warn rising living costs are hitting students especially hard this year.One university is fundraising for a new emergency scholarship and another university staffer said the financial pressure is causing serious mental health problems.Student leaders said students were struggling to afford food, rent and other bills and studying had become harder than ever.AUT's director of student services, Joanna Scarbrough, told RNZ financial problems were the main caus...

Seventeen-year-old to have bariatric surgery

Mele Raass is counting down to life-changing bariatric surgery.The 17 year-old Ōtara resident is one of a group of 20 young people chosen to undergo the surgery as part of a project targeting adolescent obesity. To qualify, patients have to be under 18 years of age and have a body mass index (BMI) of over 35.It will see half her stomach removed to prevent developing diabetes - and end a lifelong weight battle.It's part of a programme from Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa (DFA), which has partnered ...

'Nanaia bore the brunt':

The Prime Minister told The Hui presenter Julian Wilcox other voices from the Government should have been in the conversation about the controversial legislation."I think if I reflect critically on that period, we probably left Nanaia Mahuta out on her own defending the Three Waters reform program and the co-governance debate by herself for longer than we should have," Hipkins said."I actually think Nanaia bore the brunt of that [debate]. It was very unfair. It became very personalised to her."H...

The Hui - Monday, April 10, 2023

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As a doctor,

Over the last 50 years, Māori and Pasifika students with their eyes on a career in medicine have had the chance of getting a hand from MAPAS at the University of Auckland’s School of Medicine.MAPAS is the Māori and Pacific Admissions Scheme which was set up to help ensure that New Zealand’s doctors would, bit by bit, get to the point where they’re reflecting the ethnic mix of the country’s population.Here, Chloe Fergusson-Tibble tells how MAPAS has helped her along the way.Link to arti...

Artificial intelligence has potential for harm that 'boggles the mind'

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New platform helping schools address student well-being, bullying

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Online platform helping schools tackle mental health going global

Komodo Wellbeing was developed in Christchurch by Jack Wood and Chris Bacon in 2018. It’s now available in more than 100 schools in 16 countries, including Singapore, Kuwait, Dubi, Australia, South Korea and Japan.The platform gives students are given a series of questions to answer, including how happy they are, if they’ve been bullied, feel safe at school, and whether life at home is enjoyable.The information is then sent through to the teacher, who can see a breakdown of how well individu...

Hamilton hapū lodges formal request

Hamilton hapū have lodged a formal proposal to change the name of a carpark in the centre of the city.The Sonning carpark is just across the Waikato river from Hamilton CBD and is built on the site of Opoia Pā.The hapū would like to see the site revert to its original name.The Hamilton City Council have been keen to develop high-rise housing on the site, but last year Ngāti Wairere filed a Waitangi Tribunal claim in opposition to any proposed development.Link to article: Hamilton hapū ...

The Vatican has rejected the Doctrine of Discovery, will King Charles III follow suit?

Link to pictorial representation: The Vatican has rejected the Doctrine of Discovery, will King Charles III follow suit? (msn.com)...

Taranaki's alternative education students

Kanye Taipari has made history in New Plymouth alternative education.The 16-year-old is the only student to get NCEA Level 1. That got him to Witt where he is studying Construction Level 3.When the Taranaki Daily News first caught up with Kanye in 2021 he had been kicked out of New Plymouth Boys’ High School, which, theoretically, ended his dream of becoming a builder.To go to Witt he needed NCEA, which he couldn’t get at alternative education.But, Kanye proved them wrong.Link to article:&nb...

A voyage into the Māori past

How Māori lived on the sub-Antarctic island of Enderby is the focus of an ambitious expedition involving scientists from the University of Auckland, the University of Canterbury and Ngāi Tahu.A challenge to the idea that pre-colonial Māori adapted to living in Aotearoa by planting gardens like kumara in the north and hunting wild resources like seals in the south is the focus of a significant expedition to the Auckland Islands in the Southern Ocean.The Marsden-funded expedition is led by Simo...

More Kiwis ‘on struggle street’

A social service manager says the financial pressures wrought by the housing crisis, COVID-19 and inflation have been compounded by recent weather events, putting many more Kiwis “on struggle street”.Brook Turner, head of services development and partnerships at VisionWest, says many New Zealanders have been plunged into money troubles, forcing them to make difficult sacrifices.“We set up a pantry restock pop-up or social supermarket in Glen Eden. People who’d been affected by the floods...

Cyber security experts warn Kiwis about new phishing scams

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Crucial date looms for deep-sea mining in the Pacific,

As a crucial deadline looms for a new frontier of mining in the deep Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islanders are worried the controversial practice could go ahead before proper regulations are in place.The International Seabed Authority (ISA) will begin accepting applications for industrial-scale deep-sea mining in Pacific waters in July.Cook Island resident Alanna Smith said any damage to ocean ecosystems would be devastating for her country, where the sea is central to life."I've always admired watch...

Nanny Pura Whale:

The respect the Taihape community has for its elders can help defuse situations from becoming too heated, a 79-year-old Māori warden says.Almost every Friday and Saturday night, Nanny Pura Whale puts on her Māori warden uniform and heads out into the night to watch over the shops and youth of Taihape.It is something Nanny Pura has done for nearly 35 years and she has no intention of stopping anytime soon.Recently, she starred in a new documentary about the wardens on Whakaata Māori ...

‘We haven’t learnt much’:

Nature-based solutions - the words flash up in bold on a Gisborne District Council screen.It is late March, and Forest & Bird freshwater advocate Tom Kay is presenting to 13 councillors, the mayor, a selection of council managers, and a handful of onlookers about the importance of rethinking natural disaster mitigation.Kay wasted no time, and pulled no punches.The message was sobering - more frequent and intense rainfall should be expected across the country due to climate change, more commu...

Cost of living:

Pensioners are struggling to survive as inflation pushes the costs of essentials out of reach, forcing many to skip meals just to get by. Aotearoa is grappling with a cost of living crisis as mortgage rates, rents and food prices skyrocket - driven by inflation of 7.2 percent. But while the cost of everything is increasing, New Zealanders who are on fixed incomes, such as superannuitants, are barely staying afloat - and some have nothing left over after paying rent. Research by th...

Court of Appeal orders return of two children

The Court of Appeal has ordered the return of two children from New Zealand to France, following their parents' marriage breakdown and "tortured" legal proceedings.The primary school-aged children were born in France and lived there until October 2020 when their New Zealand mother brought them to this country for a holiday.In April 2021 the mother and the children were supposed to return to France but were prevented from boarding their plane because one of the children did not have a negative Co...

ChatGPT:

Since OpenAI’s writing bot sprung onto the scene in 2022, there has been widespread concern about students using it to cheat on assignments.But many educators have taken a different tack, teaching kids how to use AI tools responsibly and making it a regular part of their teaching practice.Auckland language teacher Katy O’Grady is one of them. She said there were “really positive” ways for students to use AI in school.“It’s just a matter of teachers getting one or two steps ahead of t...

Bringing health care closer to home –

Boosting home and community-based care was meant to be at the core of the 2021 health reforms, especially for older people. What happened? The Government decided it needed (yet) another review.For most of her career, Jane Kelley has worked on the ‘public’ side of the wary public-private divide that exists in healthcare. She comes from a public service lineage: her dad spent 45 years working for NZ Police, her mum was a theatre nurse.Kelley herself has spent most of her career worki...