Redundant workers and mature-aged students from Melbourne’s north are tackling tertiary education with the help of La Trobe University.
The university, in partnership with Hume council, runs a tertiary enabling program at Broadmeadows to help provide access to university or TAFE studies.
One hundred students are expected to complete the 14-week program this year.
Among the students to have completed the course is Broadmeadows’ Lacey Pho, who joined the program last year after working in a takeaway shop for two years.
She is studying for a bachelor of health information management degree that will allow her to work as an accountant for a hospital or health centre.
“I hadn’t been back to school for a long time so the program was good for consolidating my study and being well prepared for uni,” she said.
Broadmeadows program co-ordinator A.J. Noonan said that for some of the participants, the program was a chance to change their circumstances by pursuing higher education or securing a job.
“In Broadmeadows, we have a different demographic to most other areas,” she said.
“Some students are battling homelessness and don’t have stable home lives. TEP [tertiary enabling program] is a foundations program that provides the basis of entry to university.”
