The pandemic took one of its greatest tolls on the lives and education of young people.
City West Housing resident Mark was a good student in Years 7 and 8 at high school but his maths began to suffer last year, the third year of the pandemic, when his family was also experiencing significant challenges.
Mark’s mother Anna, a single mother of two sons who migrated to Australia from Ukraine eight years ago, applied to City West Housing’s Aspire Education Fund to help her pay for maths coaching for Mark, now in Year 10.
Aspire is an exciting new City West Housing initiative to support young residents to stay in high school. Residents who are parents or primary caregivers of young people currently in Years 7-10 can apply for up to $1,000 a year in support for their child’s education.
“One of the ways I thought to help his schoolwork and improve his confidence was to get a maths tutor this year. English is his second language and, as a migrant, I feel he is already at a disadvantage compared to other students,” Anna says.
“It will be a great help to us because the cost of living is very hard at the moment, everything is going up, including food.”
