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Kia orana. Fakaalofa lahi atu. Mālō e lelei. Tālofa lava. Tālofa ni. Ni sa bula vinaka. Warm Pasifika greetings.
Students completing the Pasifika early childhood education programme will gain the New Zealand Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care (Level 5) – Te Tohu Pōkairua Mātauranga Kōhungahunga Manaaki (Level 5).
This Pasifika early learning programme will be of interest to qualified or unqualified teachers working in Pasifika or mainstream early childhood centres who want a deeper knowledge of Pasifika ways of knowing and being, including metaphors such as talanoa and teu le va. It will also give these educators the skills to enable them to engage effectively with Pasifika children and families.
The programme aligns with Ministry of Education and Teaching Council objectives – embodied in the Tapasā resource – to strengthen early childhood teachers’ understanding and skills in working with Pasifika learners and their families.
If you are not a qualified teacher, the programme can be studied full-time over 1 year or part-time over 2 years. If you are a qualified teacher, you can study the programme part-time over 1 year, which makes for excellent professional learning and development.

Programme delivery
Te ara tuku
Four 30-credit courses are taught over a 1-year period through online learning. There is also the option to study the programme part-time over 2 years.
Two of the courses will be taught concurrently in Semester 1 with the remaining two taught concurrently in Semester 2.
If you are a qualified ECE teacher, you may be eligible for credit for prior learning, which would reduce the programme to 6 months.
Completion of our Level 5 Pasifika programme may provide a pathway into our Level 7 Bachelor of Teaching (ECE) initial teacher education programme and the opportunity to further your early childhood career.