Independent School Offers Scholarships to Refugees

The Age, 1 April 2008

Mentone Girls’ Grammar School wants to raise money so that it can offer scholarships to two Sudanese refugees.
The school believes that the initiative is the first of its kind in Victoria to assist school-aged refugees to gain an independent school education.

Together with the Australian Multicultural Foundation (AMF), Mentone Girls’ Grammar School has developed the
scholarship programme to be more socially inclusive through closer ties with the local community, particularly
Sudanese refugees who live in the area.

The school has formed many connections over the years with the Sudanese community living in Cheltenham and
Highett. Mentone Girls’ Grammar Principal, Ms Fran Reddan, believes that it is this connection that makes ‘starting
the project with the local Sudanese community…meaningful for us’.

The Executive Director of the AMF, Dr Hass Dellal, says that an independent school education was usually ‘inaccessible’
for refugees, and he believes that the Mentone Girls’ Grammar scholarship initiative is a good way for independent
schools to ‘help their local communities’.

Ms Reddan hopes that the two scholarship recipients will be able to start their education at Mentone Girls’ Grammar in
two years.

 

 

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