A new Jesuit Community College will offer higher educational opportunities for disadvantaged young people and other sectors of the community in need.
‘Jesuit Community College will fulfil our vision to provide opportunities for those most in need to flourish’, said Julie Edwards, CEO of Jesuit Social Services, at the College’s launch on May 23, 2011.
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| Australian Jesuit Provincial Fr Steve Curtin, Jesuit Social Services CEO Julie Edwards, the Hon Peter Hall MLC. |
Launched by the Minister for Higher Education and Skills, the Hon Peter Hall MLC, Jesuit Community College has been established to help people who struggle to succeed in mainstream educational settings develop skills they need for life, learning and work.
‘The State Government is delighted to fund this bold initiative in recognition of the successful and meaningful educational options Jesuit Social Services provides to “hard to reach” and disadvantaged learners in Victoria, particularly youth’, said Mr Hall.
Ms Edwards said that in its 34 years of operation, Jesuit Social Services has seen strong and continuing links between low levels of education, lack of job skills, crime, disadvantage and poverty, and has been frustrated that so many people they reach through their work have limited opportunities to develop the skills and connections they need to reach their full potential.
“Based on this grounded experience and research, we are bringing Jesuit education to some of Australia’s most vulnerable and marginalised people through Jesuit Community College,” she added.
The College will be based in Collingwood but will offer training to people in places that make it easier for them to participate – where they live, where they have support or where they come together for other activities – and in ways that suit their circumstances – through the use of technology and by relating learning to day to day activity.
For more on Jesuit Social Services and the new Jesuit Community College, go to www.jss.org.au.