| Value | $3,000 |
| Number Offered | 1 |
| Closing Date | 15 October |
Established in 2025 by the University of Otago to commemorate Yvonne Brouwer, an active and much-loved teacher educator at the College of Education who died unexpectedly in 2021. This award was created with the support of Yvonne’s whānau, and made possible through funding from the College of Education. Yvonne joined the College of Education in 1991 and gave thirty years of committed service before she passed away. The health of Māori education within mainstream primary education was a particular passion for Yvonne, who had a significant positive influence on many tauira Māori (and their whānau) over the years, through her unstinting support for, and high expectations of, all her students.
In keeping with Yvonne Brouwer’s work championing Māori success in initial teacher education (ITE), this award aims to provide financial support to tauira Māori in ITE experiencing financial or other personal hardship. It also aligns with the Mana Taurite (Equity) goals articulated in Te Aka Matua, the Māori Strategic Framework 2030, which seek to promote Māori student success.
To celebrate Yvonne’s valuable work and legacy, and as a special mark of honour to her mother, Kiwa, also formerly a kaimahi at the College of Education, the scholarship is to be launched in 2026, on the 150th anniversary of ITE in Dunedin.
Applicants must:
- have whakapapa Māori, and be able to provide verification of Māori ancestry
- be enrolled (or planning to enrol) in any year of an Initial Teacher Education degree at the University of Otago College of Education
- be able to demonstrate academic success or achievement
- in any previous study at the University of Otago or another tertiary institution, or
- in their final years of secondary study if enrolling in tertiary education for the first time
- be able to demonstrate a commitment to upholding the aspirations of hapori Māori (Māori communities)
- be faced with financial or other personal hardship in the pursuit of their studies
The following factors shall be considered in selecting the scholarship recipient:
- the applicant’s academic record and potential for future academic success
- the gravity of financial or other personal hardship(s) detailed by the applicant
- the applicant’s commitment to upholding the aspirations of Māori