Tertiary Teaching Awards

NZQA received 44 nominations for the inaugural Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards being held this year.

The awards recognise excellence in tertiary teaching, promote good teaching practice and will enhance career development for tertiary teachers. There are nine awards across three categories as well as a supreme Prime Minister's award.

Steve Maharey, Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary)

NZQA is managing the awards process and organising the awards ceremony to be held on 24 June.

Acting Chief Executive of NZQA, Karen Van Rooyen says the entries were of an excellent standard and were from across a wide variety of disciplines.

"As the awards become more established we will be hoping to see entries from an even wider range of providers in the tertiary sector," she says.

Minister Maharey launched the awards process in January by calling on tertiary providers to identify the tertiary teachers they consider most worthy of recognition.

He said the awards give tertiary teaching the recognition it has lacked and are a practical way for the government to encourage the transfer of knowledge.

"Ground-breaking research by academic staff in our tertiary institutions has been recognised - but until now cutting-edge teaching has not been acknowledged nationally," he said.

The recipients of the excellence awards will receive $20,000 and the winner of the Prime Minister's award will receive $30,000 to be spent enhancing their teaching career and promoting best practice.