Students earn PASS marks for migrants
The efforts of concerned ANU students are making a difference to the lives of young migrants and refugees in Canberra and Queanbeyan. Volunteers in the Program for After School Studies (PASS) have helped many young migrants to succeed in their new country. "Last year, 11 students passed Year 12 and went on to study at university and TAFE. One student has just started a combined Commerce/Law degree at the ANU," Phillipa Chantry, coordinator of PASS, said. The program has 60 tutors, most of them ANU students. They work with young migrants aged 12 to 22 who are having difficulties coping with high school or college. Volunteers assist students with homework and assignments - which often involves helping them with basic English skills. "Teaching young migrants and refugees can be highly rewarding. It will broaden your world perspective while helping others to learn," Ms Chantry said. The students need help for several reasons. For many students, English is their second language which exacerbates the difficulties of entering an unfamiliar education system. Most refugee students have also missed schooling, some up to six years, while waiting in detention. "It is not uncommon for students to have spent so long waiting that they are placed into college - Years 11 and 12 - despite having only the equivalent of primary school education in their own country," Ms Chantry said. These challenges are not what the average Australian student experiences or expects. "Growing up in a sheltered suburb and going to university, you don't necessarily realise how others are disadvantaged," she said. One of the student tutors on the program, Simone McManus, a third-year Arts student, began last year after learning about PASS while living at Fenner Hall. She is interested in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) and finds the program to be good training for this. "An important aspect for the students is simply the time spent going over the work they have done in school. I am constantly reminded what it must be like, being in a situation where you only understand half of what is said at school," she said. Based in Civic, the Migrant Resource Centre of Canberra and Queanbeyan provides a range of other settlement services to migrants and refugees. These include help with welfare, accommodation, employment and training. While there have been many successes, many of the outcomes are not so obvious. "PASS helps students in subtle ways, even if it is just in increasing their confidence and stopping them from 'wagging' school," Ms Chantry said. Julian Lee