$1M Available in Australian Education Grants

Two education grant rounds worth a total of $1 million have launched from the Learning Impact Fund to improve the academic outcomes for Australian children.

The first round is open to any education programs designed to improve the academic achievement of children in Australia. The second round is for programs focused on building resilience skills in students in Victorian schools.

The Learning Impact Fund is an initiative of the recently launched Evidence for Learning (E4L),  which has been incubated by Social Ventures Australia and supported by the Commonwealth Bank and the Education Endowment Foundation (UK) as a founding partner.

It is designed to identify, fund, evaluate and scale effective education programs in Australia.

“The fund also addresses the lack of rigorous evidence on the cost and effectiveness of educational practice in Australian schools,” Evidence for Learning’s director Matt Deeble said.

“The resilience round offers grants for program evaluation, and is a co-investment from E4L and VicHealth which has contributed $100,000 for program implementation and E4L, $50,000 for evaluation.

“The aim is to identify promising school-based initiatives that build social and emotional learning and resilience in Victorian students, which also improve academic achievement.”

He said E4L invites education program developers to apply for both grant rounds, including Not for Profit and for-profit organisations, Catholic education offices, charities, universities, government bodies and social enterprises.

“We want to empower educators with the very best information to make decisions about which programs and approaches to implement in their schools,” Deeble said.

VicHealth CEO Jerril Rechter said almost 75 per cent of mental illness begins before 25 years of age and it is crucial to take a preventative focus and proactively work to build resilience.

“In the 21st century young people will face a range of challenges including a more competitive job market, growth in technology and overexposure to online content so it’s important to build resilience early to help young people cope with life’s up and downs,” Rechter said.

Applications are open until 5 October 2016.