State of the Art Course Cancelled at Eleventh Hour

te-pati-maori

Mon Feb 05 2007 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

State of the Art Course Cancelled at Eleventh Hour

Monday, 5 February 2007, 10:15 am
Press Release: The Maori Party

Tariana Turia, Member of Parliament for Te Tai Hauauru

Monday 5 February 2007

Tariana Turia, Member of Parliament for Te Tai Hauauru, today spoke out about the loss of an iconic Glass Design and Production course at Whanganui UCOL. The decision to cancel the course has come less than one week out from its starting date.

“I am disappointed at the lack of insight around this decision” says Turia.

“This course is New Zealand’s only tertiary programme majoring in hot and warm glass, and has attracted students from all around New Zealand, and in fact overseas who saw the three year integrated National Diploma as a valuable stepping stone to trade, to self-employment and to professional art careers”.

“The technologies and techniques of glass-making taught on this course, are a vital foundation for our glass art community throughout the country” said Turia.

“The consequences of the decision to cancel the course will have a major impact on art galleries, on the local economy, on the tourism industry and it will also limit our ability to contribute to the international glass scene”.

“The late cancellation has, it appears, been made without any consultation with the interested parties” said Mrs Turia.

“I can well appreciate the anger and frustration of those affected, who have in many cases, resigned from jobs and relocated to Whanganui, disrupting families and lives, in pursuit of their placement on such a unique programme”.

"This is not the first time that UCOL has acted in such a way. The idea of being managed from Palmerston North has not worked for Whanganui" stated Mrs Turia. "My constituents have been speaking out for a tertiary institution that is Whanganui focused, that makes its decisions in the interests of Whanganui".

ENDS

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