Australia Awards Alumni South Asia

Shimmi was awarded an AusAID scholarship in 2000/2001 upon receiving the Dux student award from the National Diploma of Secondary Teaching programme conducted at the Institute of Teacher Education (currently Faculty of Education of Maldives College of Higher Education). She enrolled in a four-year Combined Degree Program at the University of Western Australia, from where she graduated with a double degree in 2004.

Upon returning to Maldives, Shimmi joined an all boys’ public secondary school as a teacher of GCE O Level Chemistry, guided by the pedagogical content knowledge and the teaching experience she had earned through her degree programme. It provided her with an endless source of enthusiasm, courage and self-confidence to deal with her students. The educational structure and the curriculum framework in Australia had opened her eyes to a wide range of possibilities and options she could utilize to teach her students and formulate lessons in order to cater to their specific needs, motivating them to achieve academic excellence.

Not willing to stop there, Shimmi wanted to be able to share the creative and innovative teaching methodologies she had learnt during her studies with other teachers and to be involved in training teachers in teaching and learning methodology. She transferred to her current job at the Faculty of Education in Maldives College of Higher Education, where she became a lecturer. Her job involves teaching student teachers at Diploma and Undergraduate level and formulating units and courses of study in science education to primary school science teachers.

With the foundation she had received through my AusAID scholarship, Shimmi was able to obtain a Master’s degree in Science with a major in Curriculum and Instruction in USA through a Fulbright scholarship. She feels that receiving these opportunities have helped her gain a sound understanding of widely different education systems, which she finds very useful when developing units of study for her students.

Shimmi highly recommends AusAID scholarships for anyone who is highly motivated and interested in broadening their academic knowledge base in their field of work.