9 Apr 2014

Govt scheme could favour wananga

7:06 pm on 9 April 2014

A government initiative to roll out broadband in rural communities could help reach potential students who want to study and live in non-urban centres, a Maori tertiary institutions says.

Te Wananga o Aotearoa chief executive Jim Mather.

Te Wananga o Aotearoa chief executive Jim Mather. Photo: Te Wananga o Aotearoa

Vodafone is one of two firms to secure funding for the Crown's Rural Broadband initiative.

The telecommunication company aims to help 240,000 rural homes to connect or upgrade to faster internet.

Te Wananga o Aotearoa chief executive Jim Mather said the wananga operated from 120 locations.

It was making changes to its set up, and IT was an area the wananga was developing so it could improve access for students, he said.

Initiatives such as like rural Broadband were a good thing, and would be useful because potential students, who in the past could not engage with Te Wananga o Aotearoa, now could have that opportunity, Mr Mather said.