Over 200 Indigenous students got a taste of tertiary and vocational education when they visited Charles Darwin University’s (CDU) Casuarina and Alice Springs campuses as part of the ‘Taste of Uni’ program.
The year 9-12 students from local high schools visited the campuses as part of ‘Taste of Uni’ festivities on Thursday 24 August.
Alice Springs campus administrator, Dianne Underwood, said the major goal of the day was to map out the possible pathways to a career from compulsory schooling through to tertiary and vocational education and training (VET).
“Students were guided by our team of Indigenous academic support staff who are committed to showing students what they can achieve at CDU and the support facilities available.”
Last year’s ‘Taste of Uni’ resulted in a 60 per cent enrolment for year 10 attendees in options such as hospitality, community services and trades, and a 42 per cent VET enrolment for year 11 and 12 students who attended.
“Following last year’s great results, this year we wanted to highlight the bachelor courses that students can study locally in Alice Springs,” Ms Underwood said.
At the Casuarina Campus the Indigenous academic support team welcomed over 150 students, many of which had never left their home communities.
Indigenous academic support lecturer Veronica McLintic said remote students were particularly interested in courses such as art, music and the trades.
“We’re getting more students from remote communities than ever before actually enrolling in courses and we’re trying to give them a taste of subjects and courses that will be of interest to them,” she said.
Individual planning sessions for the year 12 students were provided with an emphasis on scholarships, cadetships and other support options for Indigenous students.
CDU’s ‘Taste of Uni’ for Indigenous students is an annual event for years 9-12 students of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, and is coordinated through the CDU Indigenous academic support team.