Tertiary bid fuelled by grant

Marina Tuileva at the petrol station where she works in customer service. Photo: Supplied by Z


An Auckland mother-of-two has won a scholarship to study retail and business management at Massey University in Auckland. Marina Tuileva, who is originally from Samoa, called the scholarship a “dream come true” and says study would have been too difficult financially without assistance.

“I can’t afford the fees,” she said. “I don’t want to earn a degree but spend five to 10 years paying off a student loan.”

Haley Small, community champion at Z Energy, the company that awarded the scholarship, said Ms Tuileva is “incredible with customers” and an “emerging leader”

Ms Small said she hoped the retail worker would inspire others in the community to pursue tertiary education. Ms Tuileva works in customer service at the company’s Point Chevalier petrol station, and wants to become a retail manager. She had wanted to gain a management qualification for many years, but money would have been too tight while raising two young children.

Greg Harford of Retail NZ said having a degree in retail management is very helpful for people looking to “advance quickly” in the retail industry. More than 300,000 New Zealanders were employed in retail businesses and not all of them were working in checkout roles, he said. There were a large number of jobs in management, marketing and design within the retail industry, Mr Harford added.

The Z scholarships cover the recipients’ course fees and provide some learning support. Seven were given out this year, but Ms Tuileva is the only recipient from Auckland. Others were from Levin, Papamoa and Canterbury. Ms Tuileva is the only one who will be studying the Bachelor of Retail and Business Management.

Only staff members were eligible for the scholarships, which are given out every year.