Scholarships for secondary teaching degrees allow greater access for future Education students

The Faculty of Education welcomes the Victorian Government's recent announcement to fund a scholarship that will contribute towards study costs of secondary school teaching degrees.

We recognise some students face significant financial hardship during their studies and believe this initiative will provide critical support to allow greater access and success for students in our secondary teaching courses.

Eligible students commencing in the Faculty of Education's Master of Teaching(Secondary) and Master of Teaching (Secondary) Internship in 2024 and 2025 will have access to this scholarship. Students will receive monetary payments across their study and will also receive further payments if they proceed to work in Victorian government secondary or specialist school settings after they graduate.

The initiative aims to boost school workforces and is reminiscent of a government sponsored initiative introduced in 1950 at the University of Melbourne, the secondary teaching studentship. Aimed at high-school graduates from rural and regional Victoria, the studentship was designed to meet the critical shortage of qualified and trained teachers in Victorian schools during the post-World War II era.

^{Frank Larkins studying to be a teacher (1959-1961) as part of the State Govt funded teaching studentship at the University of Melbourne.}

Many of these University of Melbourne alumni were the first in their family to go to university and went on to achieve extraordinary careers in education. They include Frank Larkins (pictured above), who became Deputy Vice Chancellor (1990-2005) at the University of Melbourne and Brian Caldwell, who became Dean of Education (1998-2004).

The new funding offers an exciting opportunity for prospective students who wish to take the next step in their careers. The Faculty of Education's Dean, Jim Watterston, says the scholarships are an important step towards making the teaching professions more inclusive:

“It is great to see funding towards giving students greater access to higher education, which we hope will encourage more people from diverse groups to enter the profession.”

To be eligible for the initial teacher education (ITE) scholarship, students will need to be enrolled in a Victorian VIT-accredited secondary school ITE program in 2024 or 2025, and an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen living in Victoria.

More information and FAQ on the scholarships for secondary teaching degrees can be found on the Victorian government website.