Napier was ablaze with colour as jubilant EIT graduates gathered in traditional academic gowns, satin-lined hoods, sashes, korowai and tasselled trenchers for this year’s capping and downtown parades.

In total 879 diplomas, degrees and postgraduate qualifications were awarded, compared to 851 in 2015.

The proportion of younger people who gained higher-level EIT qualifications remained steady, with 37 percent of graduates under 25. Women made up 70 percent of the total.

For the third successive year, the graduation ceremony was staged as a two-day event in Napier’s Municipal Theatre. Guest speakers were Ollie Powrie, company viticulturist for Villa Maria Estate and an EIT graduate himself, and Apryll Parata.

Honoured valedictorians Andrew King, graduating with a Bachelor of Computing Systems, Tara Cooney (Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design) and Melanie
Gregory (Bachelor of Recreation and Sport) represented their classmates in delivering their addresses.

The graduates included the inaugural cohort for the Bachelor of Teaching (Primary). The first of its kind to be offered by a New Zealand institute of technology, the degree uniquely offers a significant component of practice-based learning. Launched with six partnering schools, the programme now encompasses 22 Hawke’s Bay schools.

Another graduation high point was mother and daughter Kate and Georgie Robson of Hastings, who were both capped with Bachelor of Business Studies degrees.
This year’s Master of Nursing cohort was a particularly large group. Of the 18 who completed the degree last year, 14 attended graduation.