PM Gives New Manukau Campus Her Blessing

    The first programmes to be offered will be in Pasifika early childhood teaching, and midwifery. The AUT Technology Park in Penrose will also relocate to the new site once equipped.
    As Ms Clark noted, future courses will be decided upon after discussions with “the community, local businesses, industry, and other stakeholders to ensure that the courses offered at the campus meet the region’s growing skills needs and the aspiration of its young people.”
    AUT Vice-Chancellor Derek McCormack was extremely excited about the way the new campus would benefit the local area which has few degree level facilities within close distance.
    “The future of the greater Auckland region is tied inextricably to the future of Manukau,” Mr McCormack said. “Its population is young, its communities have pride in their traditions and hope in their potential, it is growing and progressive, and it is already a very big and wide grouping of people and activities. Socially, economically and culturally it is the place to watch to predict our region’s future… It is logical and crucial to expand access to all levels of education by locating institutions and facilities for educational provision in Manukau.”
    All of the speakers made clear that this new facility was essential to the development of Counties-Manukau as Ms Clark noted that it has the country’s largest and fastest growing young population with 40% of residents under-25, and there is currently no degree level education facility to cater for them. Currently only 2.6% of Counties-Manukau’s population is in tertiary education, well below the national average of 6.1%.
    “Young people in this area deserve every opportunity to realise their career aspirations Ms Clark said in her speech. “A university campus in the heart of this community is an important step towards making that happen.”
     “AUT is to be commended for promoting this initiative,” Ms Clark continued. “It has secured a site and buildings which are well-suited to becoming a university campus and are virtually ready to use. AUT’s strength in advancing undergraduate education among Maori and Pacific students makes it well positioned to deliver university education in Counties-Manukau.”
    Following the speeches from Ms Clark, she and Tertiary Education Minister Pete Hodgson took a tour of the facilities, which include mini golf course, squash courts and swimming pool, as well as plenty of room space that can be easily converted to classrooms, covered walkways, carparks, and plenty of green grass.
    Mr McCormack noted that the existing buildings will require little renovation and retro-fitting for immediate use.
    “The property we come to is an ideal start-up facility,” he said. “It requires very little work to make it useful for university purposes and is of an excellent standard. There is also potential for some development as student numbers grow beyond the thousand EFTS (Equivalent Full-Time Students) that our plans with government envisage over the first four years or so.”
    AuSM President Jan Herman also acknowledges the benefits of such a development, saying “The recent establishment of a 3rd official campus for AUT University in the heart of Manukau City is a stepping stone for positive change for the people of the Manukau community. At the official opening Prime Minister Helen Clark mentioned that ‘the establishment of a university campus in Manukau had been a vision of the government since the 1970s’. This vision has finally come to fruition.
    “The potential benefits for the current young people of Manukau are huge. To this date on a national scale, the Manukau region has had one of the lowest participation rates per capita in tertiary education. Over time this will hopefully change. Many who may have previously never even thought about furthering themselves with a university education will now no longer need to look further than their back fence to see what potential lies in wait for their future.”