After the tsunami, Deakin University trained teachers will help to rebuild Aceh

A social rebuilding program in Indonesia's Aceh Provincefollowing the catastrophic tsunami will see the first cohort of teachers come to Deakin University to study for a Master of Education degree in trimester 2, 2009 under an agreement signed on 13 March 2009.

Among the 128,000 people who died in just seven minutes on 26 December 2004 in the tsunami were some 500 university lecturers and 2,876 teachers. The Aceh provincial government is offering a scholarship program to Acehnese students to encourage the training of a new generation of teachers to compensate for the loss of those who perished.

Deakin University's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sally Walker, said: "The impact of the 2004 tsunami on the Aceh province, and its teaching community, was devastating. Deakin University will train a new generation of teachers as the province rebuilds its education system and infrastructure. Deakin is recognised nationally and internationally as a leader in teacher education and we are proud to be associated with this significant step for the province. The province has rightly recognised that high quality education is the key to its rebuilding and to its future development."

Under the program, the first 60 young (23-30 years old) Aceh graduates will undertake the RECSAM Diploma in Malaysia and 20 of these will then proceed to Deakin for the Deakin Master of Education course. Applicants for the RECSAM Diploma would already have a four-year university degree and teaching experience ranging from six months to several years.