Three Central Coast students have each won a $20,000 Harding Miller Education Foundation Scholarship to help them continue their studies.
The three were among more than 700 current Year 9 students who applied for the scholarships, which are for young women who are passionate about their studies, but who may lack opportunities to achieve their academic potential and dreams.
Through the scholarships, girls are supported in a variety of practical ways including with equipment, computers, internet connections, textbooks, tutoring and coaching, which they may otherwise not have access to.
The three Central Coast scholarship winners are Emily Yeseul Park (Gosford High School), Isabelle Morley (Kincumber High School) and Phuntsok Tentso (Harry Kendall High School).
The students said the scholarships would help them overcome potential obstacles to their future academic pursuits.
Harding Miller Foundation Executive Director, Cara Varian, said all recipients were talented and dedicated students who simply didn’t have access to the resources they needed to make the most of their education opportunities.
“These scholarships help individual girls to meet their high academic potential, at the same time helping to break what can be vicious cycles of poverty,” she said.
“Girls are more likely to complete high school and go on to pursue further education when they are supported with equipment, money for resources, tutoring and coaching, and a woman’s income will increase by up to 25 per cent for each additional year of education.
“That’s why we want to support high-potential young women to stay in school and give them every opportunity to go on to further study including university.”
In 2022, 90 per cent of Harding Miller scholarship recipients graduated with a plan to go on to university, compared to the national average of 60 per cent.
Harding Miller has been offering the scholarships since 2016, and this year celebrates awarding its 1,000th scholarship.
The Foundation aims to present 8,000 scholarships by 2035.
Varian said the Harding Miller Education Foundation focused on providing practical, tangible support to girls which was specific to their high school education needs.
“The scholarship funds devices and educational tools for the girls and provides them with a more level playing field with peers who are more socio-economically advantaged,” she said.
“We get satellite dishes installed in homes to make sure that the girls can get access to the internet.
“We supply noise-cancelling headphones if they don’t have a dedicated study space.
“We send out supermarket gift cards if families are having trouble affording groceries.
“We take the steps needed to give young women a hand to complete their schooling and fulfil their potential.”
Source:
Harding Miller