Skill Path in India: meeting students, strengthening partnerships
Last month members of our Skill Path team travelled to India with Duolingo and UNHCR to meet refugee students hoping to study in Australia through the Refugee Student Settlement Pathway.
The rooms in Delhi and Hyderabad were full of students asking sharp questions and determined to pursue their higher education and dream careers, despite the immense challenges they face.
Skill Path CEO Steph Cousins speaks with students in India about the Refugee Student Settlement Pathway program.
I met so many extraordinary students in Delhi and Hyderabad, young people displaced by conflicts many years ago or born into displacement entirely.
One moment has stayed with me. The father of one of our selected students travelled 500km from the quarry where he works, day and night, to keep his kids in school. His son applied but just missed out on being selected for the Refugee Student Settlement Pathway and was devastated, worried he'd be forced to abandon his education. His dad supported him to keep studying and improving English. A year later with Duolingo support he has been accepted into the program and his dad could not be prouder. He came all the way to tell us in person the impact of this program on his son. He told us it might be too late for him, but it wasn't too late for the next generation to be treated as human.
Skill Path, Duolingo and UNHCR India meeting in Delhi to discuss expanding student pathways for refugees in India.
L-R: Laura Kaub (Duolingo), Bailey Castillo (Skill Path), Aashita Sharma (UNHCR India), Steph Cousins (Skill Path) and Anshum Goswam (UNHCR India)
There are more than 240,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in India, mostly from Afghanistan and Myanmar. This includes a growing population of young people who have completed secondary schooling but are unable to pursue higher education or work legally, and cannot return home. Many of these young people have been displaced since they were very small children, or even born as refugees after their parents fled.
This year we received 2900 expressions of interest from refugee students wanting to study in Australia. Applications have now closed and we are working through the difficult process of selection. Successful and unsuccessful applicants will hear from us by the first week of May.
We are grateful to the UNHCR India team and partners Bosco Delhi and Mari Hyderabad for hosting us. UNHCR India does vital work under increasingly difficult circumstances and deserves far more support. Thank you also to the Duolingo University Access Program team for supporting students and the RSSP. What a privilege it is to work alongside these dedicated partners.
L-R: Steph Cousins (Skill Path CEO) and Bailey Castillo (Skill Path program manager) at the Australian High Commission in Delhi to discuss the Refugee Student Settlement Pathway.
L-R: Sally Baker (Skill Path), Laura Kaub (Duolingo) and Bailey Castillo (Skill Path) at MARI Hyderabad, a partner organisation working with UNHCR to deliver education support to refugees in Hyderabad.
