Education scholarships for bushfire victims
27-Sep-2009
The generosity of Victoria’s private education providers was
highlighted at the launch of a scholarship program to support victims
of the Black Saturday Bushfires, held last Thursday.
The Member for Yan Yean, Danielle Green MP, joined Ben Hubbard, CEO
of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction & Recovery Authority, and
member colleges of the Australian Council for Private Education and
Training (ACPET) to launch the program.
Coordinated by the Australian Council for Private Education and
Training, the scholarship program was initiated soon after the
devastating bushfires of early 2009, to provide opportunities for
victims to gain new skills or equip themselves if they wanted to or
were forced to start a new career.
ACPET CEO, Andrew Smith, said he was tremendously proud and humbled
by the generosity of ACPET members, with some individual donations
exceeding $60,000. “We have scholarships ranging from short courses
through to Graduate Diplomas, in areas as diverse as bricklaying,
healthcare, hairdressing, business management, digital animation and
fitness,” Mr Smith said. “We have received more than $420,000 in
donations so far, with many more coming in,” “In addition, the ACPET
board has pledged $30,000 as an initial contribution to the program.”
Mr Smith said typically the smallest institutions have given discounts
to their existing courses and others have offered multiple scholarships
in any course they run, while some have proposed running short courses
at any location for large groups. “This is a great example of our
industry coming together in a very practical way to support the
Victorian community to recover from a devastating event.”
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