New grants to help refugees and migrants with their studies

News bulletin: 26 October 2009

Minister for Education Bronwyn Pike has announced a new Learning Beyond the Bell grant scheme to support refugee and migrant students who have had their education interrupted to continue their learning journey.

"Newly-arrived refugee and migrant students need our support and compassion as many have come from traumatic experiences. Some have lost loved ones, their homes and often lived in sub-standard conditions in refugee camps," Ms Pike said.

"In many cases, the experiences which have brought many of these students to Australia have left them with enormous gaps in their education."

Funded by the Department, Learning Beyond the Bell grants will be administered by the Centre for Multicultural Youth.

As part of the scheme, best practice grants of up to $45,000 for over three years will be available to schools and community organisations that provide refugees and migrant students with after school tutoring.

One-off Resourcing the Future grants of $5,000 will also be available for groups running homework programs to purchase computers and resources to assist refugee and migrant students.

The grants are part of the government’s aim to strengthen support for newly arrived migrants by working with organisations and community groups.

For more information on the Learning Beyond the Bell grant initiative, see: Centre for Multicultural Youth – Learning Beyond the Bell