The Smith Family Learning For Life
Education key to post-pandemic recovery
Last year, many families across our nation shared their challenges after months of home learning, with schools working tirelessly to support students through the COVID-19 crisis.
There is one digital device in a six-person household, and the younger children’s education has to be deprioritised so that their older siblings can study. Families without internet are advised to sit in a car outside school to hotspot Wi-Fi for remote learning. Families already living in a single parent income-earning household are worried about the economic impacts we are yet to feel.
Too often, the experience of poverty has a largely hidden face. And yet, in Australia today, 1.2 million children and young people are living in poverty1. That’s one in six young Australians who may not have the tools and resources they need to succeed at school.
The Smith Family supports the education of around 58,000 students on their Learning for Life scholarship program, which helps young people living in poverty to achieve educationally. Through a combination of financial, personal and academic support, they provide long-term help to improve educational outcomes, and ultimately, break the cycle of poverty.
The Smith Family believes in the transformative power of education. Not only do improved educational outcomes lead to a better quality of life, but in order for our country to rebuild its economic and social prosperity, it is imperative that we help all young Australians to thrive at school and beyond.
1. ACOSS/UNSW Poverty Overview Report, 2020.
For more information, please visit https://www.thesmithfamily.com.au/programs
This organisation is supported by trusts managed by Equity Trustees.