The Pacific Islands Polynesian Education Foundation Board
RELEVANT ACTS
The Pacific Islands Polynesian Education Foundation (PIPEF) was established by the Pacific Islands Polynesian Education Foundation Act 1972 as a body corporate with perpetual succession and common seal. The Act is administered by the Foundation under the control of the Minister of Education.
FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The general purpose of the Foundation is to promote and encourage the better education of Polynesian students and to provide financial assistance for that purpose. For the purposes of the Act, ‘Polynesian’ means a member of the Polynesian culture group living in New Zealand Aotearoa and is a native of one of the citizen or person who has been granted permanent residence, or who has been permitted to enter New Zealand with the intention of permanent residence and includes any descendant of any such member of Polynesian heritage.
STRUCTURE
The Board of Trustees comprises:
One trustee appointed by the Governor-General as Chairperson;
Three ex-officio members including:
- The Secretary of Education, Deputy Chairperson; and
- A person from the Ministry of Education appointed trustee by the Secretary of Education; and
Five other trustees appointed by the Governor-General on the joint nomination of the Ministers of Education and Pacific Islands Affairs, one each representing the Niue, Cook Islands, Samoan, Tokelauan and Tongan communities in New Zealand Aotearoa.
Trustees appointed by the Governor-General serve a term of office of three years, and are eligible for reappointment.
Divisions
Contract Management – Ministry of Education
The Foundation is contracted by the Ministry of Education to carry out its responsibilities. An administrator is appointed by the Foundation to administer its affairs. The Ministry funds the administrative work of the Foundation.
Funding
The Foundation is an autonomous statutory body. Its revenue is received from government. The Contracts Management Division controls the amounts that the Foundation receives by way of contract. Funding is dependent on the Foundation receiving a clean report from Audit New Zealand, and meeting achievement targets.
The Ministry of Education provides PIPEF with funds for three distinct services:
Administrative Services;
Individual PIPEF Scholarships awarded by the PIPEF Board; and
The Dollar for Dollar Subsidiary programme, whereby funds are provided
by PIPEF to participating institutions (who must match the funds
provided by PIPEF) and then award scholarships to Pacific Island
students studying with them.
Operations
The Board of Trustees may apply these funds within the provisions of the Act for the purpose of supporting tertiary education of Pacific Island students. These include:
Tertiary education for Pacific Island students attending New Zealand Universities, Colleges of Education, Polytechnics or Tertiary Institutions of similar status; and
Any other provision that the Board thinks expedient in order to further the purpose for which the Foundation was established.
Within the broad categories, it is the Board’s responsibility to set and monitor policy on the investment and disbursement of the Foundation’s funds.
Selection Committee
The full Board of PIPEF meets annually, usually in April or May, to award the PIPEF scholarships.
The institutions participating in the dollar for dollar programme select their recipients of the dollar for dollar scholarships. These institutions must use the selection criteria established by the PIPEF Board, and the successful applicants must be notified to PIPEF. Each institution is required to submit a report of the way it disburses its dollar for dollar grants.
Consideration of applications from tertiary institutions to participate in the dollar for dollar subsidy programme is given by the full board.
RECORDS
Individual requests for financial assistance towards the cost of tertiary education are only accepted on the Foundation’s official application form available from the administrator.
A confidential personal file is made up for each applicant. The Board’s administrator holds these files.
Files for general correspondence and policy matters are kept by the PIPEF Administrator. The Board keeps a set of minutes that are held by the administrator.
CONTACT
Brian Sutcliffe
Administrator PIPEF
P O Box 10–140
Wellington
Phone: 04-4740743 Fax: 04-4722350
