This pilot intends to build collaborative partnerships between:
- Victorian schools
- Indian communities in Victoria
The program includes guidance and funding for activities that build this partnership, and create a shared sense of belonging to our diverse Victorian community.
These outcomes are designed to ensure every Victorian has intercultural skills and can contribute, achieve and succeed in a globally connected Victoria.
Funding available
Schools can apply individually or as a cluster for a single round of funding of up to $25,000.
The funding must be spent by June 30, 2020.
Successful schools will be funded using the
Schools Targeted Funding Governance Model.
Objectives
The program objectives are:
- for schools across Victoria to have developed strong, sustainable and meaningful connections with the Indian community in order to provide students with global citizenship opportunities
- to increase the ‘cultural mobility’ of Victorian students, enabling them to understand, appreciate and respect different cultural contexts
- that Victorian students are presented with opportunities to develop intercultural understanding and 21st century skills
- that Victorian students are socially engaged and live in inclusive communities.
Benefits
If we strengthen and focus collaborative partnerships between schools and the broader community, we will:
- create a more comprehensive network of support for students
- harness the full capacity of the community to improve student outcomes.
Schools with a genuine commitment to being a learning environment that includes students, teachers, parents and community, make faster, stronger progress towards becoming interculturally capable.
Victoria’s Indian community present a rich resource for schools to achieve this. Below are just a few of the expected benefits of schools working with the Indian community:
Benefits for students
- A greater understanding and connection to their own community and that of their peers from the Indian diaspora (FISO Priority:
Positive Climate for Learning).
- Development of intercultural understanding and sensitivity, and an appreciation of different points of view (FISO Priority:
Community Engagement in Learning).
- Exposure to tangible illustrations of global interconnectedness and an opportunity to explore Indian culture, histories and stories directly from those in Victoria’s Indian community (FISO Dimension 15:
Global Citizenship).
- Self-awareness and the ability to look upon oneself from the outside (FISO Dimension 13:
Intellectual engagement and self-awareness).
Benefits for school staff
- Increased access to community resources to support their students.
- Empowered to engage with and facilitate global learning due to enhanced intercultural capability.
- Exposure to new ways of engaging students through stimulating and diverse programs.
- Greater access to the unique insight provided by the Indian community.
Benefits for schools
- Increased community connection and pride in the school.
- Better educational outcomes as children with diverse cultural backgrounds have a sense of belonging and a strong cultural identity.
- Greater access to skills, resources, ideas, training, mentoring and support that community and business organisations from the diaspora can offer.
Submit an expression of interest
To submit an expression of interest, email
csic@edumail.vic.gov.au by 12 April 2019.
A representative from the Department’s International Education Division will be in touch with further details and to help identify the types of activities that suit your needs.
You can also phone 03 7022 1508 for more information.
Victoria’s India strategy
In recognition of Victoria’s deep connection with India, the Victorian Government launched
Victoria’s India Strategy: Our Shared Future.
The strategy is designed to celebrate our personal connections with India and form the foundations for a mutually beneficial partnership.
The Connecting Schools with Indian Communities program is one of three educational initiatives contained in the strategy and aims to develop and deepen Victorian schools’ engagement with India.