Amelia Setefano and Marina McCartney have been selected as inaugural recipients of the Ministry of Education’s Tagaloa scholarship which supports Pacific Doctorate and Masters study.
Associate Education Minister, Aupito William Sio said the scholarships were part of the Ministry’s wider Talanoa Ako response to the Pacific PowerUP evaluations 2016–2019 where Pacific communities highlighted the need to develop Pacific solutions by building capacity and capability across the board.
“These scholarships are a great investment to support Pacific learners and their families to achieve their aspirations and to enable more opportunities for Pacific people to pursue study at postgraduate level,” says Minister Sio.
The Ministry of Education has allocated $24,000 for one Masters scholarship and one Doctoral scholarship to award high-achieving Pacific students undergoing education-related research that are relevant to Pacific families in an area that is often overlooked and ignored.
Amelia Setefano (below) is the recipient of the Masters scholarship for one year of full-time study at Massey University to be put towards her research into the stigma and discrimination against mental illness.
Marina McCartney (main photo) is the recipient of the Doctoral scholarship for one year of full-time study at Auckland University of Technology for her research into Moana Pasifika representation in film in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
“Getting more Pacific people engaged in postgraduate studies is crucial for the sake of achieving a thriving and prosperous Pacific Aotearoa,” the Minister said.
“I’m encouraged to hear there have been many applications and I’m hopeful many more can make the most of these scholarships on offer. This is part of our Brown, Brainy, Beautiful, Bi-cultural, Bilingual and Bold breed of Pacific students coming through,” he said.
“I want to acknowledge those who have put in the time and effort to apply for these scholarships and I congratulate Amelia and Marina. We hope these scholarships will support more Pacific people in their studies.”
