After two decades of lobbying for the Advance Centre - a supportive, one-stop shop approach to Deaf and hearing impaired students who are looking to their future; a place to offer Deaf and hearing impaired students ongoing support during their tertiary education studies, it was finally opened in 2004 in Auckland.
The Auckland Deaf community attends the opening with a karanga and welcome from students at Kelston Deaf Education Centre. Speeches from Hon Ruth Dyson (Minister for Disability Issues), Patrick Thompson, Michael Wi, Ivan Tamepo and Catherine Muller.
This is raw footage of two tapes merged into one, compressed into 1 hour and 13 minutes.
Hon Ruth Dyson talks about the aim of the Advance Centre and addresses other questions.
The Advance Centre, a tertiary support centre for Deaf and hearing impaired students in the Auckland region, was established in 2004. The Tertiary Education Commission funded the Advance Centre though a Special Supplementary Grant of $100,000 (incl GST) per annum.
It was the result of several years of negotiation among Auckland tertiary providers, looking at how limited resources could be more effectively deployed. Original plans for a Centre of Excellence that would manage all Deaf and hearing impaired related resources for the Auckland tertiary providers, ended up being charged with useful but arguably limited functions, contributing to its eventual demise. The Deaf community protested against the closure of the Advance Centre in 2009, to no effect: https://signdna.org/video/deaf-protest-advance-centre/
Footage was collected for ‘Te Hēteri’, a documentary screened on Māori TV. “The experiences of Māori Deaf” is available at https://signdna.org/video/the-experiences-of-maori-deaf/
