Fifty Fijians will shortly be travelling to Australia to begin their tertiary studies in four key sectors (environment, governance, health and infrastructure), through Australia Awards scholarships.
This is the first group of Australia Awards recipients to depart Fiji in over two years due to COVID-19 border closures.
Australia’s Acting High Commissioner to Fiji, Paul Wilson and Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Civil Service, Susan Kiran, congratulated the awardees (30 women and 20 men) at a pre-departure briefing at the Holiday Inn in Suva this week.
Mr. Wilson wished the awardees well and encouraged them to maximise their scholarship opportunity.
“Your scholarship is broader than just your study program. I hope you will fully embrace the opportunities and culture presented in Australia. On return to Fiji, you will have gained international experience and connections that adds value to your personal lives, your professional aspirations and to Fiji for many years to come.”
PS Kiran also congratulated the awardees and thanked them for their ongoing commitment to Fiji’s development.
“I thank you for your commitment and determination and I look forward to watching you apply the knowledge and skills you gain through the Australia Awards program to further Fiji’s sustainable development, as current and emerging leaders.”
The two-day pre-departure briefing included presentations from previous Australia Awardees, who shared their experiences, and advice relating to financial and time management. Leadership Fiji facilitated a session on goal setting to ensure the awardees start their scholarships by setting for themselves specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely goals.
Awardees were also guided on how to identify on-award enrichment opportunities such as work placements or how to access the Australia Awards Women’s Leadership Initiative, a program working to increase the number of Pacific women who hold positions of influence in all sectors and spheres of society.
Australia Awards are prestigious international scholarships offered by the Australian Government to the next generation of global leaders for development. Through study, research and professional development in Australia or the Pacific, recipients develop the skills and knowledge to drive change and build enduring people-to-people links with Australia.
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