Cullinane College teacher heads to Chile on Prime Minister’s Scholarship

Cullinane College teacher Lalina Dayal has received a Prime Minister's scholarship to study in Chile. Photo/ Bevan Conley.

A four-week trip to Chile to study economics was not on teacher Lalina Dayal’s bucket list, but it’s an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

The Cullinane College commerce teacher is one of 15 recipients of the Prime Minister’s Scholarship to Latin America.

She will be studying macroeconomic policy and learning about the Spanish language and culture at the University of Santo Tomas in Santiago.

“I was over the moon, a dream come true.”

The scholarship covers flights, accommodation, insurance, transport and food for the duration of her stay.

“I think this opportunity will help to see another perspective of another culture.”

Dayal has been studying for a masters of applied management at Southern Institute of Technology Te Pūkenga.

In 2010, Dayal moved with her two sons from Tavua, Fiji, to Whanganui and took up a teaching job at Cullinane College.

Balancing fulltime teaching and study was “challenging but not hard”.

She said her students were so excited when she told them about the scholarship.

“I told them you just need to keep putting in effort, and you never know what the Lord has in the bucket for you.”

Dayal is heading to Chile in early January, and will return for the school year.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.