Released 15 August 2007
The Peace Scholarship Program has passed the 200 student
milestone with the arrival of 45 new students from Cambodia, Chile,
India, Indonesia and Mexico to commence second semester courses in
Australian universities.
The first Peace Scholars arrived in July 2004 and, since then,
212 students from ten countries have been awarded Peace
Scholarships to study in Australia. Under the Program students who
would otherwise be unable to study outside their home countries are
provided with scholarships to study for up to one year in Australia
at undergraduate or postgraduate level.
Marina Nawabi from Afghanistan studied in Australia through the
Peace Scholarship Program in 2006. She said of her experience:
“The Peace Scholarship Program is an opportunity to build my
personal skills and learn from the culture of peace that Australia
offers. The most fascinating thing is being in a multicultural
country where each individual can exercise their fundamental
rights. I believe this is an outstanding way to invest in education
and make the opportunity for students around the world to meet and
learn from each other.”
The Peace Scholarship Program was initiated by IDP Education
Australia at the Australian International Education Conference in
Sydney in October 2001, just after the terrorist attacks on New
York and Washington. The concept was overwhelmingly supported by
delegates to the conference who strongly believed that the
Australian international education community should take concrete
steps to help build international peace and understanding.
The Program is designed to promote communication between people
of different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds and aims to
develop intelligent, open-minded and compassionate leaders for the
future. It seeks students who demonstrate a commitment to global
peace and understanding through their community, academic or
professional activities and who can show how the scholarship will
help them contribute to this goal.
The Program is managed by IDP Education and supported by 28
Australian universities (who offer free tuition) as well as a range
of other organisations including governments, businesses and
non-profit organisations.
Professor Deane Terrell, Chair of the Peace Scholarship Program,
acknowledged the importance of the support received from many
sources.
“The success of the Peace Scholarship Program is largely due to
the wonderful support received from Australian education
institutions and the variety of organisations and businesses who
generously give towards the program,” he said.
For further information:
Tim Dodd, IDP Education, 0407 440160, tim.dodd@idp.com
Current supporters of the Peace Scholarship
Program:
University Supporters
Australian National University
Bond University
Central Queensland University
Curtin University
Deakin University
Edith Cowan University
Flinders University
Griffith University
James Cook University
La Trobe University
Macquarie University
Monash University
Murdoch University
Queensland University of Technology
Southern Cross University
Swinburne University
University of Ballarat
University of Canberra
University of Melbourne
University of Newcastle
University of Notre Dame
University of New South Wales
University of South Australia
University of Southern Queensland
University of Tasmania
University of Technology Sydney
University of Western Sydney
Victoria University
Other Supporters
Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid)
IELTS Australia Pty Ltd
Ministry of Education Chile
Queensland Education and Training International
Secretariat of Public Education Mexico
UniLodge
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Australia
Victorian Department of Education and Training
