Australian language teachers to depart on overseas study tours

Congratulations to the 2012 Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship (ELTF) Awardees who will commence their three week total immersion study and cultural program in one of ten countries in January. To read more about the 2012 Awardees and the ELTF program, click here.

High achieving Pacific scholars ready to embark on Australian work placements

Thirty Pacific scholars who are the recipients of a prestigious Federal Government scholarship were honoured at an awards ceremony in Canberra in December. To read more about the Prime Minister's Pacific-Australia Award recipients, click here.

.

Read about how Austraining International celebrated the work of our volunteers both locally and in the more than 20 countries to which we send skilled Australians to contribute to sustainable development. more.

Addressing poverty in the Philippines through textile design and development

Reviving the Philippines' textile industry by encouraging the production of local fabrics is a bold plan to tackle poverty by an Endeavour Award Holder studying in Melbourne. Click here to read Mary Joanne Lesaca's story.

High achieving Pacific scholars ready to embark on Australian work placements

Thirty Pacific scholars who are the recipients of a prestigious Federal Government scholarship were honoured at an awards ceremony in Canberra earlier this month. To read more about the Prime Minister's Pacifc- Australia Award recipients, click here.

Jade Cooper, Prime Minister’s Australia- Asia Award 

The Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Awards provide an exclusive opportunity for developing future leaders to contribute to establishing education and professional linkages between Australia and its Asian neighbours. Click here to read Jade Cooper's story.

Austraining International and Australian Business Volunteers in partnership to deliver business volunteers

Austraining International and Australian Business Volunteers (ABV) are proud to announce their partnership in delivering the business component of the Australian Volunteers for International Development program. More.  

International Literacy Day: Establishing libraries in East Timor

Australian Volunteers Daniel and Beth Gilfillan are supporting a public library initiative in central East Timor which is helping boost the reading and writing skills of people in the local community. More.  

Endeavour Award Holder receives grant to continue breakthrough research at home university

Endeavour Awardee Dr Sanjay Chavan and fellow researchers have been awarded a grant from the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund for a project which will strengthen the links between the scientific communities of the two countries. more.

Refugee Week – Canberra youth volunteer reaches out to refugees

Australian Youth Ambassador Amie Hope will soon be using her experience supporting recent arrivals in Canberra to better prepare Burmese refugees for a new life in Australia. Amie is readying for a nine month volunteer placement with the International Organization for Migration – Regional Office in Bangkok where she will work to enhance a cultural orientation course available to all refugee and special humanitarian entrants prior to their departure for Australia. Read more about Amie and her upcoming placement here.

World Environment Day – one volunteer’s passion for orang-utan conservation

As the global community readies for World Environment Day, one Australian is preparing to relocate to a remote Indonesian animal sanctuary to work with endangered Sumatran orang-utans. Annaleis Martin will start a two year volunteer assignment as an orang-utan welfare and training specialist with the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Project in Jambi, South-East Sumatra, on Sunday, June 5. Read more about Annaleis’ passion for orang-utan conservation on our media release here.

Kevin Rudd addresses Australia Award holders in Brisbane

Keven, meet Kevin: Endeavour Awardee Keven Lee met Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd at the Australia Awards event. more.

Austraining International named core partner of Australian Government’s new overseas volunteer program

Austraining International is proud to be named a core partner of the Australian Government’s Australian Volunteers for International Development Program. The new Program draws all Australian Government overseas volunteering initiatives together under a single banner, and was launched by Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd at Parliament House, Canberra, last week. The Australian Government, through AusAID, is partnering with Austraining to continue to provide a range of rewarding international development opportunities for Australians aged over 18. Click here to view our media release. For more information on Australian Volunteers for International Development visit www.ausaid.gov.au/volunteer

Australian Volunteers take the stage at world conference on drowning prevention

Four Australians volunteering in South East Asia will help highlight the epidemic of drowning deaths in developing countries at an international conference being co-sponsored by Australia in Vietnam this week.
Child drowning is estimated to claim more than 350,000 lives each year in Asia, or 1000 a day. In Bangladesh, drowning kills more people aged 18 years and under than infectious diseases. more.

National Volunteer Week

Optus employee Jann Kohlman, Group Manager Sponsorship and Community Programs, used her 25 years experience in the marketing and communications industry to help boost the profile of international aid organisation CARE. more.

KOTO Founder Jimmy Pham Honoured

Austraining International congratulates Founder of Know One Teach One (KOTO), Jimmy Pham, who has been recognised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a Young Global Leader. KOTO, a not-for-profit restaurant and vocational training program, has lifted over 300 Vietnamese youth out of poverty by offering them training and employment. more.

Austraining commends the work of AYAD volunteer Lydia Lao who raised $5000 and worked helping to build two new homes for two underprivileged local families. Working alongside the recipient families, the occasion was filled with much lifting, laying, mixing and building. Read more of this inspiring story here.

 

Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator Chris Evans

Photo caption: Tertiary Education Minister Senator Chris Evans presents Prime Minister’s Australia-Asia Award to Jin Ling at the Australia China Alumni Association in Beijing.

Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator Chris Evans presented three Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Awards and 19 Endeavour Awards to recipients at a reception in Beijing hosted by the Australia China Alumni Association.more

PM Julia Gillard meets Awardees at Parliament House

International Volunteer Day

International Volunteer Day on December 5th provides the nation with an opportunity to recognise the contribution of Australian volunteers and their impact on communities locally, nationally and internationally.

Our media release outlines examples of Australian volunteers and partner organisation’s commitment in developing countries contributing to Australia’s priority to strengthen sustainable development and poverty reduction.

Volunteers in Aid Conference

Media Release from The Hon Stephen Smith MP (30 June 2010)

Learnt the language?

Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowships

Austraining International has recently been appointed as the new manager of the Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowships program on behalf of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

The Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowships, a part of the Australian Government’s broader Endeavour Awards, provide opportunities for both practising languages teachers in Australian schools and trainee (pre-service) languages teachers in Australian universities to improve their language and cultural skills through intensive short-term study programs. The study programs take place over a three-week period in January each year. Programs may be held in Asia, Europe, Latin America or the Middle East.

Please go to www.eltf.austraining.com.au for more details

Austraining International Supports 1Goal

Education for All campaign is the FIFA supported campaign for this year’s World Cup. 1Goal is using the publicity of the World Cup to get as many people to sign an online petition that will be presented to world leaders in time for the UN General Assembly meeting in September. Austraining is supporting the goal to raise awareness of the lack of access to basic education for 72 million children around the word and put pressure on world leaders to act. Click here to find out more about 1Goal.

Bringing Cutting-Edge Skills to Philippines Public Schools

Endeavour Award Holder Profile:
 

• Endeavour Award Holder's Name: Anwar  Ito
• Endeavour Award: Endeavour Vocational & Education and Training (VET) Award
• Country of Origin: Philippines
• Host Institution: TAFE SA - Adelaide City   Campus, Australia
• Award Focus: Multimedia in Education

Anwar's Story

Imagine teaching a computer class with fifty-five (55) students sharing about ten almost obsolete computers. While to others this herculean task might sound impossible, this is a usual daily routine for Anwar, a high school teacher in a public school nestled in a disadvantaged community in southern Philippines. For many years, Anwar and his colleagues worked hard to turn adversities into a positive force that propelled their school into excellence and national recognition as a model school for vocational education and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). In 2005, the Philippines’ Department of Education embarked on a new course leading to a productive, relevant, and quality vocational education by redesigning a Technical-Vocational Education Program implemented in selected high schools in the country. This paved the way for a new series of initiatives including the application of ICT in teaching and learning, the most recent and pervasive of which is the ICT for Education (ICT4E) Program. “Being an ICT mentor for both my students and colleagues in the department, I felt I could benefit from the Endeavour Vocational Education and Training (VET) Award by learning new and cutting-edge skills from a country whose quality of education I admire,” explains Anwar. At present, Anwar is undergoing his Diploma in Information Technology with specialization in Multimedia at TAFE SA - Adelaide City Campus; and based upon his performance in the last semester, is doing amazingly well. 

Experiencing the Real Australia

During school holidays, Anwar keeps himself busy by travelling around Australia.  He confesses that one of his goals in coming to Australia is to go to as many places and meet as many people in the continent as he can. “I want to show to other people especially my countrymen that there is more to this great country than the vista of the Opera House.  So far, I have been to many places and have marveled at the natural beauty of the Uluru, King’s Canyon, Kata TJuta, Twelve Apostles, and the Three Sisters, among others. More importantly, I have the wonderful opportunity of meeting new people and learn more about their culture. In a way, I am being a cultural ambassador.” “Undoubtedly, I would look back on my Endeavour Awards experience with utmost gratitude, pride, and optimism that I would be an effective catalyst of change in my home country,” he concludes.