Tuesday 10 May 2022 11:18am
Uaita Poutu and Lisa Biiri are two of the seven University of Otago students to have received a Toloa Tertiary School Scholarship from the Ministry of Pacific Peoples.
Lisa is a current PhD candidate and Uaita is in his second-year of undergrad though they are both based in the Department of Anatomy and are grateful to have received this support.
The Toloa Programme was established in 2017 as a multi-faceted approach toward supporting Pacific people in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) pathways, with the goal of shifting this groups employment in STEAM careers from two-point-eight per cent to eight per cent by 2028.
Uaita was elated to hear that he was a successful recipient, largely grateful for the financial aid this will give him and his family.
“Receiving the Toloa scholarship means so much to me as it provides me with the opportunity to relieve my parents of some financial stress and it also allows me to reciprocate the support my family has shown me by demonstrating some academic success; my family really is my biggest support and motivation,” Uaita says.
Lisa shares this sentiment because receiving the scholarship will help financially support the continuation of her postgraduate studies in New Zealand.
She plans on using the funds from this scholarship to learn more about Pacific health and specifically that of Kiribati health.
“Postgraduate studies have always been a dream of mine but, the most important result of this scholarship, is that I get to be a representative for my beautiful country and it’s people in my field,” Lisa says.