Manaaki New Zealand Vocational Short Term Training Scholarships

Education New Zealand runs the Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship Programme on behalf of the New Zealand government. Its vocational track pays for working people from 18 Pacific countries and territories, plus Timor-Leste, to pick up practical skills and take them home.

A scholar can train with a certified New Zealand provider, do a workplace placement, or take an online or in-country course. Terms run from one week to 12 months, so the length follows the training rather than an academic year. The training has to sit inside one of the programme’s three priority areas: climate change and resilience, good governance, or economic resilience.

This track does not use the online portal that handles the degree scholarships. Each New Zealand embassy or high commission runs its own process, holds the application form, and sets the dates for its country — some accept applications all year, others open and close a window.

Benefits & funding

Full tuition fees for the training course.
Training-related costs.
A weekly allowance (stipend) for basic living costs.
Travel and related costs, as necessary.
Scholarship terms of one week up to 12 months.
The programme does not publish the cash value of the weekly allowance or a maximum award size.

Eligibility

Open to citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna.
Applicants must have lived in their country of citizenship for at least two years. Members of the diplomatic corps and their dependants posted abroad are excepted, so the structured residency field is left empty rather than gating on a country list.
Applicants must not be a citizen or permanent resident of New Zealand, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, any European Union country, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom or the United States.
That exclusion does not apply to people from Niue and Tokelau who hold New Zealand citizenship, to people from the French Pacific territories who hold French citizenship, or to New Zealand–Samoan and Timor-Leste–Portuguese dual citizens.
At least 18 years old at the time the scholarship starts. No upper age limit is published.
At least one year of full-time work experience, or two years of part-time work experience.
Not currently serving in the military.
No Manaaki scholarship terminated in the past five years.
An endorsement from the applicant’s employer is required where the applicant is employed.
English is evidenced either by certified international English test results, or by proof of all primary schooling plus at least three years of secondary schooling in English, or by proof of five years of secondary schooling in English.
No prior degree is required; this is a scholarship for workers rather than for students.

Can you apply?

Here's who can apply

Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.

Eligible nationalities
Micronesia · Fiji · French Polynesia · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Nauru · New Caledonia · Niue · Palau · Papua New Guinea · Samoa · Solomon Islands
+ 6 more
Timor-Leste · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Vanuatu · Wallis and Futuna
Experience required
≥ 1 yrs
Age requirement
≥ 18 yrs

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Application process

1
Check that your country or territory is on the eligible list and that you meet the age, work experience, residence and citizenship conditions.
2
Contact your local New Zealand embassy or high commission at any time to get the application dates for your country and the application form.
3
Choose the training, provider or work placement you want funded, and be able to show how it sits inside climate change and resilience, good governance, or economic resilience.
4
Complete the application form — embassy and high commission staff can help you fill it in.
5
Attach the supporting documents: a certified copy of the personal pages of your passport, a current CV in English, a current job description in English if you are employed, certified academic transcripts and completion certificates in English, and your English language evidence.
6
Submit through the embassy or high commission within your country’s dates. Some posts take applications year-round; others run a window.
7
The programme does not publish a public selection timetable for this track — the post that took your application confirms the outcome and the start date with the training provider.
8
Applicants from New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna should check with the New Zealand Consulate-General in Nouméa first: its page states that short term training scholarships are suspended there for now and asks applicants to contact it for updates.

Program timeline

Applications
no single global deadline. Some countries accept applications all year round; others have an opening and closing window set by the local New Zealand embassy or high commission.
Dates and the application form are only available from that embassy or high commission, not from the programme website.
Example
the New Zealand High Commission in Tonga states that dates for its next round are to be confirmed.
Start date
agreed with the training provider once the award is confirmed.
Programme length
one week to 12 months from the agreed start.