Five students who are blind or vision impaired have received a boost to their studies this week, after receiving a $5,000 grant from Blind Citizens Australia’s (BCA) Hugh Jeffrey scholarship program.
Despite making up almost 20 per cent of the population, people with disability represent fewer than eight per cent of people enrolled in higher education. Funded by the Department of Social Services, in partnership with Jeffrey Blyth Foundation, it hopes to combat this issue, with a further 10 scholarships on offer in 2022.
BCA CEO Emma Bennison said students with disability are the second lowest funded group attending our tertiary institutions. “These scholarships aim to close that gap and give blind or vision impaired people more equitable access to education,” she said.
The winners were Mehdi Hassani, Luke Andrews, Katie Butler, pictured with her guide dog Sadie, James Siver and Samantha Alexander.
According to Samantha the scholarship allowed her to purchase a much-needed new MacBook Pro laptop for my university studies. “It gave me the kickstart I needed to help reignite the study spark inside me,” she said. “The process to apply was very accessible, usually scholarships require documentation to be completed by hand, and I require some assistance. However, I was able to complete the entire application independently.”
BCA are offering five scholarships of up to $5,000 each for both Semesters 1 and 2, 2022. Applications open January 17, 2022.
For more information visit: bca.org.au/2021/05/16/2021-2022-bca-scholarship-program-2/