Professor proposes tertiary centre to help Kaikohe

A professor has put forth a proposal for a tertiary centre in Kaikohe.

On Peter Harwood's many visits to his wife's marae in Kaikohe he saw the declining roll of the local college, the high level of unemployment and the rising number of suicides.

So, over a period of two years, he constructed a seven-page proposal for a tertiary education centre in Kaikohe, with the hopes of addressing those issues. Next month he will put his ideas to the community.

"There are three main goals or points of vision. To help reduce unemployment - one thing tertiary education succeeds in is building jobs. To have somewhere where people can gain a strong identity of Ngapuhi and Ngapuhitanga - a wananga will be part of that," he said.

The third was to create growth in Kaikohe. He said in the 1950s, Arizona considered state government funding for two competing small towns for the development of a prison - the losing town was awarded a grant for a tertiary centre.

Dr Harwood said the latter is now prosperous while the prison town withered and he hoped the same results would be seen in Kaikohe. Kaikohe already has a prison nearby at Ngawha.

Dr Harwood is an emeritus professor at Auckland University of Technology, a retired Dean of Arts and a former professor at Monash University in Melbourne.

He is proposing the centre be based at Northland College co-ordinating programmes from existing providers to meet community needs. A key aspect of it would be the establishment Te Whare Waananga o Ngapuhi - a centre teaching the tikanga and language of Ngapuhi.

"It's to encourage Ngapuhitanga. Self-identity and language can be so important.

"There was a study on Native American tribes and the ones who retained their language managed the best," he said.

Dr Harwood said funding options could come from future treaty settlements, including the Ngapuhi settlement and various grants. The planned budget, which will be revised, was a total of $20 million over five years with $10 million to be spent on staffing and $10 million on infrastructure. On November 10, a hui will be held at the Memorial Hall in Kaikohe from 11am so the community can give feedback on his ideas.