21 March 2023
The University of South Australia, along with the University of Adelaide and Flinders University, is pleased to partner with the Malinauskas Labor Government to deliver $2 million in teaching scholarships to boost the quality and diversity of the teaching profession in South Australia.
The scholarships will focus on increasing the number of women teaching STEM, the number of male primary school teachers, and help boost other underrepresented groups into the teaching profession.
The scholarships are a key election commitment aimed at supporting some of the best and brightest students to enrol in teaching degrees,
The State Government will award 400 scholarships worth $5000 over the next four years (100 per year) to strengthen and diversify the teaching profession in South Australia.
The Enabling Educator Excellence (E3) scholarships are to help with the costs of starting a teaching degree and will be awarded in four categories:
- Women in STEM
- High ATAR or GPA
- Aboriginal people
- Men in primary school teaching.
Enabling women in STEM will help propel the skilled workforce needed following last week’s AUKUS announcement.
The scholarships are part of the Malinauskas Labor Government’s Seven Point Plan for Teaching Quality, which seeks to address issues related to quality and specialisation in teaching, employment certainty and regional attraction.
“The Malinauskas Government is committed to creating a diverse and strong teaching cohort in South Australia, and these scholarships will play an important role in this,” Deputy Premier Susan Close says.
“I am proud to be delivering on this election commitment to support some of our best and brightest students enrolled in teaching degrees.”
Education Minister Blair Boyer says we need to ensure that talented people from diverse backgrounds consider teaching, not only as a rewarding career path for themselves, but also to ensure our children and young people are set up for their own promising future.
“There are few careers that offer as much as an opportunity to make a difference in young people’s lives – and teaching is one of those professions,” Minister Boyer says.
“We have an enormous opportunity to come together and take genuine, national action to tackle workforce shortages in education and I am excited to work collaboratively with the Deputy Premier and our three universities to get more South Australians into teaching.”
University of South Australia Vice-Chancellor, Professor David Lloyd, says that quality teachers are the driving force behind a quality education.
“UniSA has always been at the heart of teacher education in South Australia,” Prof Lloyd says.
“These scholarships will ensure that UniSA continues to attract exceptional students from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences, who will meet the needs of the modern classroom.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with the South Australian Government to deliver world-class teaching graduates in priority areas.”
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Media contact: Annabel Mansfield M: +61 479 182 489 E: Annabel.Mansfield@unisa.edu.au
