Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Scholarship
 

History
In 2011, the Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation (RSIEF) and the Harvard Club of Australia (HCA) started offering a Scholarship to provide talented Indigenous Australians the opportunity to undertake up to two years of postgraduate study at Harvard University. The scholarships were directed at Indigenous Australians with the potential to become leaders in their field of study and in their communities. The pool of eligible applicants is small, and in some years bursaries have been offered for short executive education courses at Harvard.

Recently, the focus of the Scholarship has shifted towards the pivotal role played by Indigenous school principals or non-Indigenous principals teaching in schools with substantial proportion of Indigenous students. This Scholarship is designed to bolster their leadership and lead to increasing the aspirations of Indigenous students so they realise their academic potential.  The Scholarship provides the successful applicant with the opportunity to ‘reflect, refocus and recharge’ through a professional education program tailor-made for school principals. The program aims to cultivate and strengthen the management and leadership skills of school principals in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia.

Scholarship Value
The Scholarship to attend the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Principals Program - Leadership for School Excellence, in Australia is valued at $6,000 including tuition fee, accommodation and travel.

Eligibility
Primary and secondary school principals in government schools are eligible where they have an Indigenous heritage, or they teach in a school with a substantial proportion of Indigenous students.

Funding Source
HCA Foundation donates to the Aurora Education Foundation (Aurora) to support up to 5 Scholarships annually.  Aurora administers Scholarships for RSIEF.

Selection Process
Aurora manages the selection process.  Eligible principals should apply to the Harvard Graduate School of Education to attend the program.

Timetable
Applications typically open in June each year. Principals should apply to Aurora for Scholarship funding once Harvard has accepted their application. Scholarship winners are announced in October. The program runs in January each year. The 2021 program is likely to be deferred due to travel restrictions.  

Partnership Organisations
The Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation
Aurora Education Foundation 

More information

Via email
Indigenous Education Scholarship Call for 2021 Applications - CALL FOR APPLICATIONS 2021
Indigenous Education Scholarship 2021 Application Form - APPLICATION FORM
Honour Roll of Indigenous Education Scholarships - HONOUR ROLL
Latest Indigenous Education Scholarship news - LATEST NEWS
Support the Scholarship with a Donation - DONATE NOW