The second workshop of the Connecting and Equipping Refugees to Tertiary Education (CERTE) Bridge Course was held on Wednesday, 11th of October 2017, at Monash University. The workshop was led by the Head of Community Development at BAC’s Make it Right Movement (MIRM) Brian Lariche, who spoke on self-confidence, awareness and public speaking. The workshop proved to be very successful with the students, who gave positive feedback and demonstrated the skills learnt at the workshop in their pitch talks, following the workshop. The students were encouraged to find out more about MIRM and Brian’s work with the organisation.
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. Focusing on connecting refugees to tertiary education opportunities in Malaysia, it aims to identify refugees who demonstrate motivation and academic potential, 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.