Awards help to build global ties

A researcher working to open doors to education for disadvantaged young people and children with special needs will travel to Indonesia next year on an Australia Awards Endeavour Executive Fellowship.

Senior Lecturer in Education Dr Nicoli Barnes will travel to Bali to continue work on a collaborative project to develop a Centre for Social Empowerment.

“There are an estimated 13.8 per cent of Indonesian children living in poverty in Bali,” Dr Barnes said. “The Indonesian people want to do something to change these types of statistics.” 

She said the centre would build on a recent CRADLE.ia project led by the School of Education in Indonesia, which began addressing the issues of disadvantage and poverty by drawing together people dedicated to affect change.

“It has been a real privilege to engage in change with universities, NGOs, government and local business, who are working together to benefit those who live in disadvantage,” Dr Barnes said.

“The establishment of the learning centres will aim to teach English and IT skills, and into the future we hope to establish education and workplaces for kids with disabilities.”

Other recipients of Australia Awards fellowships include Northern Institute senior research fellow Dr Benxiang Zeng, who will travel to China to work at Sichuan University, and David Karacsonyi from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, who will study with CDU in Darwin during 2018.

The Endeavour Fellowships, worth a total of $67,500, were announced by the Minister for Education and Training, Senator Simon Birmingham, as part of almost 700 offered in the 2018 round, valued at $43.4 million.

The program fosters research relationships at an institutional and individual level across the world.