The AVID program’s success at helping underachieving students succeed in education has featured as an article in The Australian.
The article, titled Schools program helps overcome disadvantage, highlights how AVID is helping to improve student outcomes in primary, secondary and tertiary education around Australia.
The story focuses on the journey of Wyndham Central College, an AVID school located in Melbourne’s west, and one of its graduating Year 12 students, Hassan.
Principal of Wyndham Central College, Leanne Gagatsis, told The Australian about the increase in university applications among the school’s cohort since the introduction of AVID.
“In 2012, about half the school’s students applied to go to university. After years of the AVID program, the figure is now about 80 per cent,” said Leanne.
“…[AVID] sets up a culture of aspiration. It’s created a university-going culture. That’s really important for students with a challenging background.”
AVID student, Hassan Nur Hussein, came to Australia four years ago as a Somalian refugee. At that time, he knew no English and had no formal schooling behind him. He spoke of how AVID helped him to overcome the challenges he faced.
“I would spend breaks by myself, not talking to anyone. But since I got AVID I made a lot of friends and I got a lot of support from the teachers at my school,” said Hassan.
Last year, Hassan was the student speaker at AVID Australia’sSummer Institute. He spoke in front of 400 teachers about his life journey and how AVID had helped him to pursue his education goals.
Hassan speaking at the 2017 AVID Summer Institute Opening
At the end of Year 11, Hassan applied to be school captain, gave a speech, and won the role in a student vote. For the past year, he’s also run a soccer group, twice a week, for new refugee arrivals. Next year, he hopes to continue his studies at Victoria University.
“My dream is to become a teacher. I am much closer to it now than ever before in my life,” he said.
You can read the full article by clicking on the following link:
