Journalism course stopped

A journalism course which has been running at the Waiariki Institute of Technology off and on for almost 30 years has been stopped because of low student numbers.

Waiariki chief executive Margaret Noble said a decision was made this month to suspend the course.

"We are not going to be offering it this semester," she said. "We had about seven enrolments and normally we would be looking for around double that number."

Professor Noble said, depending on numbers, the Diploma in Bicultural Journalism could be back as soon as semester two, after a review into why enrolments were down.

Professor Noble said the findings would be used to make changes to the course.

She said the students who were to start the course this week had been given advice and helped into other courses.

At least one other qualification - the Certificate in Turf Maintenance and Management - has also been stopped at Waiariki.

The Diploma in Bicultural Journalism was established to assist Maori into journalism.

Waiariki is interested to hear from anyone who might want to study journalism in the future. Contact Waiariki on (07) 346 8999.