This past Tuesday, one of our NZSE tutors got acknowledged by Ako Aotearoa as an outstanding tutor at the Te Whatu Kairangi 2023 Awards Ceremony.
The Aotearoa Tertiary Educator Awards, as they are also called, recognises those making an impact on learners and the community in the tertiary education and training sector in New Zealand.
NZSE became the first Private Tertiary Establishment to have a tutor receive a Te Whatu Kairangi award. This award was received by our health tutor, Vijay Pillay.
Vijay teaches our NZ Certificate in Health and Wellbeing (Social and Community Services) (Level 4) programme, with strands in Disability Support. She includes emotional, psychological, spiritual, mental, social, physical dimensions of a person to her teaching. She understands the care needed for Pasifika to thrive in their education journey and challenges them to dream big.
Vijay received the Le Moana Mua award this past Tuesday, which recognises outstanding Pasifika tutors who support Pasifika learners and bring their culture into the classroom. Vijay is originally from Fiji and has been a valued member of the teaching staff at NZSE since she started in 2020. She has won the Outstanding Tutor Award twice at NZSE for her phenomenal contributions in supporting our Pasifika learners in achieving success.
Academic Director Neel Pandey, who was one of many people at NZSE to nominate Vijay, is proud of the welcoming culture she nurtures. “No learner is left behind in Vijay’s class at NZSE, where akonga are in the centre of our learning philosophy and tutors provide them support to do the best that they can do.”
As the awarding ceremony MC and also the Chair of Ako Aotearoa, Pacific People’s Caucus Analise Robertson, said “As Pasifika, we always keep pushing boundaries”, and at NZSE, we will continue to push the boundaries towards nurturing our learners and staff members to succeed.
