6 May 2015

Maori education provider at risk of closure

7:21 am on 6 May 2015

A kaupapa Maori charitable trust in Dunedin that provides tertiary training to rakatahi could close, and staff could lose their jobs.

Te Arai te Uru Kokiri Training Centre

Photo: kokiricentre.co.nz

The education provider offers programmes such as small business management, money management, computing and hospitality.

Te Arai te Uru Kokiri Centre said recent changes to Tertiary Education Commission funding policies had contributed to its operations becoming unsustainable.

It has confirmed that, after 30 years, it is going to have to make cutbacks.

Despite negotiations with stakeholders, it said it could not continue operating the way it has been.

The trust's interim chairperson, Haines Ellison, said everybody had worked incredibly hard to try and keep the centre going but, with an almost perfect storm upon them, she said this had forced the trust to take steps to make cutbacks.

The trustees have said they are concerned about what that will mean for at-risk young people in Dunedin.

They will be holding a public meeting about the centre's plight on Friday at 3pm.