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Breaking down the barriersTalented students facing barriers to a university education are building brighter futures with Monash University’s Merit and Equity Scholarships, writes CHRISTINE GILES A university education is automatically factored into the future plans of many secondary students. But for some who possess all the necessary talent and drive, ambition can be unfairly dashed by personal or financial circumstances that make such an education unattainable. Through its rapidly expanding Merit and Equity Scholarship program, Monash University is helping to right this wrong – and, in the process, unearthing extraordinary accounts of student achievement against the odds. A Merit and Equity Scholarship, awarded to people whose university access or performance can be limited by a variety of factors, provides $3000 annually for the length of a student’s degree.
Fabrice’s father, who fled Africa for political reasons, enrolled his son in a six-month language course before undertaking his VCE at Melbourne’s Bayside Secondary College, for which he gained an ENTER of 89.95. Fabrice says meeting new friends through a basketball team and listening to them speak helped him learn English. "I would just listen when they were speaking," he says. ‘Then, when I went home, I would look up the words in the dictionary – I was just guessing how to spell them – and if I opened my dictionary and the word was not in there, I would try to find a word which sounded like it." Fabrice, who lives in the inner Melbourne suburb of Prahran with his step-mother and two step-sisters, says it would have been hard to study at university without the scholarship because both parents were unemployed. He will put the money towards books, travel and perhaps accommodation. For 18-year-old Savvas ‘Sam’ Kyprianou, the desire to realise his long-held ambition to become a Formula One racing team engineer is only part of what motivates him. He says winning a Merit and Equity Scholarship to undertake a commerce/engineering degree will give him a kick-start towards the career that he hopes one day will help repay his parents who have sacrificed so much for their four children. "My brother received a kidney transplant from my father a couple of years ago," he says. "Not only is medication expensive but my father hasn’t been able to work since the operation. It’s been tough, but I’ve always hoped I’ll be able to give something back to my parents." Sam will also receive an Award for Excellence from the Faculty of Business and Economics, providing an extra $6000 annually for each year he achieves a distinction average during his five-year degree. He will use the money for living expenses, to pay fees and to buy a new computer. Monash received more than 1000 applications for 50 Merit and Equity Scholarships offered this year – up from five scholarships when it started the scheme in 1999. The scholarships grew from the former Merit Based Equity Scholarships, from which the Federal Government withdrew funding in 1999. The university has allocated $150,000 annually to new recipients and about $1.5 million overall to the program for the next four years. Development coordinator of the Office of University Development Ms Sarah Vincent says that although Monash is leading the field in trying to ensure equal access for all to a university education, donations are needed to expand the program. "It’s about ensuring that someone has the benefit of an education who may not, without support, be able to achieve that. It’s also about ensuring that people who do gain entry to a course can actually complete it, without the pressures that can cause them to drop out," Ms Vincent says. ACTION: The Merit and Equity Scholarships are part of a broader culture at Monash University to encourage community and corporate support. Anyone wanting to discuss making a donation towards these scholarships can contact the Office of University Development on +61 3 9905 2269. |
For 18-year-old Fabrice
Nkonko-Kakoyi, (pictured) the scholarship caps off an
incredible story of determination, starting with his arrival in
Australia from Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo) just over two years
ago with virtually no English, to gaining a place in a Monash Bachelor
of Computer Science course this year.