As Solomon Islands’ ‘nambawan’ education partner, Australia will provide a record-breaking 100 new Australia Awards to Solomon Islands over the next 12 months.

Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy made the announcement at a private function during his visit to Solomon Islands this week.

Minister of Education and Human Resources Development, Tozen Leokana and Minister of National Planning and Development Coordination, Rexon Ramofafia joined Minister Conroy for the announcement. 

“This is the largest cohort under the Australian Awards in Solomon Islands history and is aimed at supporting Solomon Islanders to have the skills and qualifications they need to get jobs and help grow the economy,” Conroy said.

Minister Conroy announced that this will give 50 Solomon Islanders the opportunity to study at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and another fifty to participate in fit-for-purpose Short Courses at Australian Universities. 

The decision to offer short courses was in direct response to a request from the Solomon Islands Government. 

This new announcement builds on the 550 Solomon Islanders who have already completed tertiary studies in Australia.

Australia provides special provisions for people with disability and those that live outside of Honiara to help them apply for scholarships, as well as additional support during their studies and when they return.