Prasanna chooses ECEC career in order to be the person she needed as a child

Prasanna Roy is an accomplished education professional with a background in science, neuroscience and psychology built on qualifications obtained in her native Bahrain. 

She emigrated to Australia in 2023 to join her husband who’d moved earlier for work, finding that despite her experience and expertise, her qualifications were not recognised in her new home. 

Undeterred, she undertook the challenge of not only being a mature aged student, but also of switching gears in her career, taking on a Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education with Victoria University (VU) to get her teaching career back underway.

“It seemed the best pathway for my future and for me to enter the education field here,” Ms Roy shared with local news source Maribyrnong Hobsons Bay Star Weekly.

Although there were challenges in terms not only of deciding what to study and where, but also in terms of navigating life in a new country, she said she shouldn’t have the experience any other way. 

“It was challenging because it’s only me and my husband here. We had to find where the supermarket was, where do we meet people, what do we do on the weekends, where do we go sightseeing, just very basic stuff,” she said.

“Even though it was challenging, it really showed us that we were resilient and we always woke up trying to find joy in the little things.”

With her studies now behind her, she has found work as a new graduate with the same Merri-bek Kindergarten where she completed her final placement, using one of her favourite sayings to guide her.

“There was this quote that I read a few years ago that said ‘be who you needed when you were young’ and so that sort of inspired me to find ways to be that person for children,” she said. 

Read the original coverage of this story here.