22 July 2014

Australia Awards help 17 Papua New Guineans graduate with Certificates in Community Health Work

Seventeen recipients of an Australia Awards Pacific Scholarship graduated last Saturday, 19 July from St Gerard’s School of Community Health Work, located in Central Province. The St Gerard’s graduates are the first Australia Awards recipients to complete a Certificate in Community Health Work under the program.

The Australia Awards Pacific Scholarship program began in 2012 and has expanded to support around 450 Papua New Guineans each year to study nursing, midwifery and community health work in Papua New Guinea. The program is helping to address Papua New Guinea’s shortage of skilled and qualified health workers. It is particularly focussed on supporting young, female students from rural areas to study and, upon completion, work in areas critical to the health sector and their own communities.

Eligible Papua New Guineans are provided with a scholarship to support their studies, and gain a qualification in a Bachelor of Midwifery, a Diploma or a Bachelor of Nursing, or a Certificate in Community Health Work from one of the 22 institutions across Papua New Guinea that the Australia Awards Pacific Scholarship program partners with.

To learn more about an Australia Awards Pacific Scholarship visit www.australiaawards.org.pg.