Zonta Club of Brisbane Inc

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History of the Kingston College Education Award

The Kingston Learning College Education Award is a $2000 bursary to assist young women to meet any financial challenges to encourage them to progress to a tertiary education.

The first awards were given in 2003 with the current award incorporating aspects of Zonta’s Z-TOPs (Zonta-TAFE Opportunity Programs), first developed in 2006 by member Dr Ann Trezise. This was a partnership between the Zonta Club of Brisbane and the Albert Park Flexible Learning Centre to enhance young women’s opportunities to access TAFE and other courses.

In 2007, the concept was transferred to the Kingston Learning College  as many young women identify TAFE or other short courses that will increase their employment opportunities or support their career pathways, but are unable to access these programs because of the financial costs associated with up-front registration fees.

 As well as supporting young women to move beyond secondary to tertiary education or training it also takes on the Z-TOPS aim to provide the students with advice and, in a supportive environment, the experience of preparing an application for a competitive award, addressing selection criteria, budgeting, developing successful interview and presentation skills, and developing an understanding of compliance and reporting requirements. This process was designed to develop life-long skills in these areas.

Criteria

To be eligible, the young women must face financial barriers to accessing the course, and must identify how the TAFE or university course fits with their career and work plans.

The young women then provide a plan, outlining how they intend to contribute towards the cost of the course and evidence of how they will accommodate the course into their study and life schedule.

Assessment

Applications are screened and provisionally ranked by the Head of Kingston Learning Centre or their delegate. An interview panel consisting of one or two Zonta members and one or two representatives from the College is convened to conduct a 15-minute interview/conversation with each short-listed applicant to discuss her plans and application.

The Interview Panel ranks the short-listed applications in order of merit.

The $2,000 bursary is payable in two parts - the first on evidence that applicant enrolled in first semester of a tertiary course and the second payment on successful completion of semester 1 and enrolment in semester 2.

Learn more about our local education awards here.