UTAS education student awarded national scholarship
A University of Tasmania education student has been awarded a prestigious national scholarship, valued at up to $25,000 per annum.
Third year student, Rebekah Shurley, was presented with the Governor-General’s Indigenous Student Teacher Scholarship at Government House in Canberra today.
Rebekah, from Don in North West Tasmania, is one of only eight students nationally to receive the scholarship. The award is presented to a student from each state and territory.
The scholarship is designed to assist and support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students to obtain a teaching degree.
“I was just ecstatic when I found out I had received the scholarship,” Rebekah said. “It’s a real honour to be chosen as a representative from the Indigenous community.”
Rebekah is studying a Bachelor of Education degree at the UTAS Cradle Coast Campus. She said it had been tough the last couple of years trying to juggle work and study, with the scholarship now allowing her to focus solely on her studies.
UTAS Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Rathjen congratulated Rebekah on her achievement.
“Rebekah’s commitment and dedication to her studies has been acknowledged and supported with this national scholarship,” Professor Rathjen said.
“It is a great achievement to be awarded such a prestigious prize.”