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Nukutere College
Nukutere College is a Catholic secondary school located in Avarua in Rarotonga, the main island of the Cook Islands.
It is the country’s only Catholic secondary school and has an important educational role across the archipelago of islands. "Nukutere" means "people on a journey", a reference to the pilgrim Church in the South Pacific context.
It is a junior secondary school (grades 7-11). The college generally has a roll of 170-200 pupils and a staff of 13.
Students come mainly from Rarotonga, but provision is made for those from outer islands (and even from French Polynesia - not far distant) to stay with "guardians".
Consistent with New Zealand legislation, it is private but supported by the state. As at 2010, Nukutere College and all other private and church schools in the Cook Islands receive 100% of the equivalent allocation of funds that they would as a government school from the national budget. All government, private and church schools are required to be open to both educational and financial audit.
There is a Government-funded Special Needs unit (opened in 2003) at the college, the only such unit in Rarotonga.
The refurnished, restocked and computerized school library, named the Edmund Rice Library, was reopened in July 2011.
Its web site is not known.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nukutere_College and http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/providers/details.do?providerId=500822001
History
The college was opened in 1975 by the Bishop of Rarotonga. The Christian Brothers provided staff for the school from the beginning of the 1976 school year until the end of 2009.
From its beginnings, the school's financial position was somewhat parlous especially after it became necessary to employ lay teachers from the 1980s. In 2000 the Cook Islands' Government began to pay 75% of teachers' salaries and running costs in all private and church schools. Also, at that time the principal of the school established a charitable trust to ensure a regular supplementary income for necessary future maintenance and development at the school. The Silver Jubilee of the College and the presence of the Christian Brothers was marked in 2000 and in 2005, the school had a roll of 190.
In February 2006 part of the school was tragically destroyed by fire. Later that year the block was rebuilt with funds supplied by the New Zealand Government through the Cook Islands Investment Commission.
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