Scholarships awarded to aspiring ECTs in the Northern Territory

Aspiring early childhood teachers in the Northern Territory have been supported on their journey with the allocation of $40,000 each in scholarships. 

Eleven teaching students in early childhood, primary and secondary cohorts have been named in the first cohort of scholarship allocations, part of the almost 1,000 teaching students across the country who received scholarships as part of the $160 million Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships Program.

The 11 successful students from the NT will receive a scholarship of up to $40,000 for undergraduate studies and up to $20,000 for postgraduate studies in initial teacher education.

The scholarships include a ‘commitment to teach’ requirement, which means recipients must be willing to commit to teach for four years (undergraduate) and two years (postgraduate) in public schools or early learning settings.

The scholarships are targeted at high-achieving school leavers, mid-career professionals, First Nations peoples, people with disability, people from whom English is an additional language or dialect and individuals from rural, regional and remote locations or from low socio-economic backgrounds.

This first round of the program has been highly successful, with more than 3,000 applications received and interest in the program continuing to grow.  

The next round of scholarships will open later this year for teaching students commencing their studies in 2025.

“Teachers do the most important job in the world, but we don’t have enough of them,” Federal Minister for Education Jason Clare said.

“I want more young people to leap out of high school and want to become a teacher, rather than a lawyer or a banker, and I want more people in the middle of their careers to consider becoming teachers. That’s what these scholarships in the NT are all about.”

The scholarships are just one part of the Government’s plan to attract more people to become teachers.

The Government is also introducing a Commonwealth Prac Payment for teaching students, reforming teaching course content at uni to better prepare teachers for the classroom and has launched a national campaign to boost the status of the profession.

“Tying scholarships to a commitment to teach is an old school idea that will help tackle today’s teacher workforce challenges in the Territory,” Minister Clare added.

“This first round will help almost 1,000 of the best and brightest teaching students across Australia to complete their studies and begin changing lives in the schools and early learning settings who need it most.”

For further information or to register your interest in the next round of the program visit: www.education.gov.au/teaching-scholarships