Brickfields Asia College’s Make It Right Movement (MIRM) was honoured at The Connecting and Equipping Refugees to Tertiary Education (CERTE) Bridge Course Awards held on Friday, 27th of October 2017, at Monash University. MIRM received two awards: One for MIRM Founder Raja Singham, in recognition of his support for MIRM’s efforts and initiatives, and another for Brian Lariche, MIRM’s Head of Community Development, for going above and beyond in support of the CERTE Bridge Course. The awards was attended by over 60 individuals comprising the MIRM team, students and faculty members of Monash University, and the refugees.
MIRM is part of the team that supports the formation of the Open Universities for Refugees (OUR), and hosted the first stakeholders’ meeting in August 2016. It continues to support the development of the CERTE Bridge Course and provides scholarships and workshops on public speaking and building confidence for refugees.
The CERTE Bridge Course is an initiative led by Teach for Refugees (T4R) with support from Open Universities for Refugees (OUR), UNHCR Malaysia and MIRM, and focuses on connecting refugees to tertiary education opportunities in Malaysia. It aims to identify refugees who demonstrate the motivation and academic potential to access further education, and equip and empower them to secure a place at a tertiary education institution. The first workshop, held in March this year, hosted 14 refugee students from five countries — Somalia, Yemen, Myanmar, Syria and Pakistan. The intensive course, held over three consecutive weekends, included soft skill workshops given by specialist professors and lecturers in areas such as interview and presentation techniques, research skills and teamwork, as well as visits to two university campuses.