Dear readers, we are happy to inform that we have finished analysing the feedback on our last year’s pilot launch of Multicultural Times (MT), New Zealand’s first nation-wide multicultural newspaper. As was the case with our Christchurch-based multicultural newspaper, The Migrant Times (TMT), MT too received innumerable accolades, appreciation and love from all of you. We are also very grateful to various communities, leaders, decision-makers and organisations from across the country who have shown immense faith in the idea of MT, and TMT before that. Based on the feedback, and after a lot of introspection, we have taken two strategic decisions to ensure that we continue to lead New Zealand’s journalism landscape towards diversity and innovation, while staying true to the basic tenets of the fourth estate. 1) The future of journalism is digital. We will continue publishing MT on our various digital media platforms and will cease publication of our print version. The reach, engagement and scope of innovation in the digital space is far superior to print. The financial viability is also superior in digital, due to the trade-off between the cost of production and results achieved. A better reach, engagement, innovation and viability, will ultimately lead to better-quality journalism for our society. 2) The future of journalism is data and artificial intelligence (AI). We are exploring how to use open data and natural language generation techniques to generate quality content and narrative stories, pertaining to local issues relevant to people’s everyday lives. We are immensely excited.

Stay tuned.

Increased pressure on staff to change grades: Tertiary Education Union

Increased pressure on staff to change grades: Tertiary Education Union

Migrants Centre
Economy, Community organisations, News

Staff at tertiary education institutions are experiencing higher levels of stress, unsustainable workloads and are feeling more alienated from their jobs compared to a decade ago, according to a report published recently by the Tertiary Education Union.

Titled Education Under Pressure, the report adds "increased pressure on staff to change grades, dedicate less time to teaching and change admission rules, all of which lead to lower education outcomes for students".

Findings in the TEU report show that in the last ten years:

  • The pressure to pass a higher percentage of students to meet government targets has become worse for 63 percent of over 1,000 survey respondents
  • The pressure to dedicate less time to teaching has become worse for 55 per cent of respondents
  • Support for improving staff well-being has become worse for 70 percent of respondents and one-third of staff who took part in the survey say they no longer feel able to support student well-being
  • Reported stress levels have increased to seven out of 10, where 10 represents extreme stress – significantly higher than the average New Zealander who has a stress level of 5.5 according to recent research.
Excellence: Migrants among the best bus drivers in New Zealand

Excellence: Migrants among the best bus drivers in New Zealand
Support for multicultural community: Cultural Connections

Support for multicultural community: Cultural Connections