Source: Ara Institute of Canterbury
The numbers are impressive, but the stories of achievement behind them are perhaps even more so.
On Friday, more than 1,400 graduates had qualifications conferred in Ara Institute of Canterbury’s spring graduation – the polytechnic’s last such ceremony under Te Pūkenga. In January 2026, Ara returns to being a standalone institute.
With the age of graduates spanning 15 to 75 years, Ara celebrated the awarding of almost 200 Bachelor’s degrees, 34 Postgraduate and Master’s qualifications and an enormous 780 Level 3 and 4 certificates.
In this graduation alone, a snapshot of the qualifications earned shows Ara contributing:
– 106 Bachelor of Nursing graduates to the healthcare sector
– 188 newly qualified graduates to the construction and trades sector
– 73 graduates in business, accounting and applied management study streams
– 53 graduates to the health and wellbeing sector
– 39 early childhood education workers
Speaking at the Woolfbrook Arena celebration, Ara Institute of Canterbury Executive Director Darren Mitchell said the skills needed for Waitaha Canterbury industries and our changing world were embodied in the graduates.
“Technology is evolving rapidly. Industries are being reshaped. Climate, global health, and social equity are no longer distant issues, they’re part of our everyday reality. The challenges are real, but so are the opportunities.”
“I see every day how Ara responds to change – how we innovate, how we partner and how we prepare our learners to meet the future head-on. Graduation is a truly special celebration of that collective impact,” Mitchell said.
The largest cohort of graduates was in the Certificate in Study and Employment Pathways, with 207 learners ready to take their next steps into higher-level study or employment.
Tāua (grandmother) Huriana Russell is an example of a learner who took that path.
Overcoming decades of addiction, Russell stepped into pathway study at Level 3 having never opened a laptop. On Friday, she will graduate with a New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing (Social and Community Services) (Level 4), specialising in Mental Health and Addiction Support. Her learning journey is continuing, as she ultimately seeks to give back to her community how she herself has been supported.
Russell was an Ara Eke Panuku award winner in her first year of study in 2023, in recognition of intergenerational whānau (family) transformation through education, agency and enterprise.
Drawing on the whakatauki (proverb) Poipoia te kākano, kia puāwai (nurture the seed and it will blossom), Ara Māori Success Team Kaumātua Poutama | Te Waha Pu Harry Westrupp paid tribute to her dedication.
“This is whānau transformation – one kuia’s courage opening doors for generations,” he said. “Tena koe (congratulations), Huriana.”
Among the crowd will be graduates, their whānau, their kaiako (tutors) and often their kaituku mahi (employers).
Presenting the ākonga for graduation, student speaker Alicia Esera brought her own inspiring story to the event.
A wife and mother of three, with two of her children diagnosed with disabilities, Esera said her family was her ‘why’.
“I came to my nursing studies after experiencing phenomenal neonatal nursing care for my youngest child who was born with a genetic disorder,” she said.
“Amora is now six and doing so well – but our journey with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) which affects growth, development, appetite, and behaviour has caused us some challenges – there’s been a lot of appointments in between classes!”
“Ara became more than a place of study for me; it became a place of growth. The patient guidance of our tutors and the encouragement of classmates sharing both struggles and laughter has got us through,” she said.
With her husband and three children on hand to watch her graduate – her dream is to give back with a role in paediatric nursing or for her Pasifika community.
From first laptops to late night assignments, Ara’s last Te Pūkenga graduation marks a bold new beginning – with over 1,400 learners ready to shape what comes next.
