Forty people on Wednesday graduated from a Te Pūkenga programme launched last year marking US tech company Apple extending its effort to combat systemic racism to Aotearoa.
Since its announcement in June 2023, the training and development programme is said to have impacted more than 2500 Māori students across 10 schools, nine of which are Kura Kaupapa (Māori immersion) schools.
The programme saw Apple provide the skills and devices needed to teach New Zealand's Digital Technologies curriculum with the goal to combat the gap in the technology industry for Māori, who are said to make up 4 percent of the sector's workforce despite representing 17 percent of the population.
Wednesday's graduation took place at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae with the 40 graduates comprised of kaiako, principals and senior leaders of the 10 schools. Nineteen of them are graduating with the NZQA-accredited micro-credential in digital technologies.
"This is arguably one of our most successful micro-credentials," Gus Gilmore, Tumuaki/chief executive at Te Pūkenga, told Newshub.
"Of the 40-odd people that participated, getting around the schools and asking for feedback, we've had nothing but positive support and strong reinforcement for this to be scaled and rolled out across the country."
The programme's curriculum encompasses iOS app development with Swift Playgrounds, including app prototyping and design, as well as digital media development, computer programming and user experience methodologies.
Examples of the programme being used in classrooms include sketching traditional Māori axe carving designs with the Procreate app and enhancing Māori storytelling with iMovie.
One of the graduates is Matua Jeff, leader of the Mahi-a-toi Academy (Māori immersion programme) at Rutherford College, who praised the programme for integrating an understanding of Te Ao Māori with modern technology.
"iPad and Mac allow us to support our students to thrive with new skills for the future, while still remembering their culture and who they are," said Matua Jeff.
"By harnessing the best of both worlds, our students can grow up and grow tall in this world. E tipu e rea mo nga ra o to ao, ko to ringa ki te rakau o te pakeha hei oranga mo te tinana. Ko to ngakau ki nga taonga tuku iho hei tikitiki mo to mahunga."
When the partnership with Te Pūkenga was launched in 2023, Apple said it was just the start of it bringing its Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI) to New Zealand.
"We see New Zealand as a region where we can demonstrate the positive benefits that come from increasing representation and bringing underrepresented communities into the solutions. We want our technology to be accessed by everyone - we make it for everyone, so it should be developed by everyone," Alisha Johnson, the company's director of REJI, told Newshub.
Apple is one of the world's wealthiest companies. Its current market capitalisation is US$2.72 trillion and it said it had invested more than US$200 million into REJI when the programme was extended to Aotearoa last year.
After launching in the US in 2020, the programme has also been extended to Australia, the UK and Mexico.
Gilmore said the programme is much more effective than the mere rhetoric other organisations sometimes offer instead.
"Initiatives like this give me hope. Words don't," he said.
"The sector needs to stop talking and start doing. Initiatives like this from Apple and IBM's P-TECH are tangible examples of putting your money where your mouth is.
"[Equality in the tech sector] will never happen otherwise - platitudes only go so far."
