The Fraser Foundation

You might know Jae as the founder of Little Scholars School of Early Learning and The Scholars Group, as well as the Vice President of Australian Childcare Alliance Queensland, but you might not know he started his career as a trainee in ECEC and is a qualified teacher and early childhood educator.

More recently, he’s created The Fraser Foundation, a not-forprofit that financially supports educators across the early learning and professional potential with the assistance of scholarships and bursaries. Those educators can be living anywhere in Australia at any point in their career journey.

For Jae, creating The Fraser Foundation was personal.

“When I began my career, I dreamed of educating young people, but coming from humble beginnings, going to university was a huge stretch. So much so that in order to achieve my dream, I had to go the long way around, working full time while studying to pay for my education –which took more time and was much more difficult,” he says. Now, Jae wants to make it easier for passionate people who want to dedicate their lives to shaping the next generation, by assisting to build a strong and enthusiastic teaching workforce that will ensure successful futures for children.

Research shows children who do not receive any Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) are twice as likely to be developmentally vulnerable when starting school than children who received at least some ECEC, according to the 2021 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC).

“That’s why dedicated, enthusiastic and passionate educators and university-trained early childhood teachers matter. I want to help those people achieve their professional goals, their dreams, which will in turn ensure children have the best start in life,” Jae says.

Jae has personally committed $2 million to supporting education with tailored scholarships and bursaries. These scholarships are open to anyone in Australia, in any state, from metropolitan or rural areas, who is excited and committed to becoming an early childhood teacher.

“From that single parent who has learned so much about how important those first five years are after having their own children and wants to become the best version of themselves, to someone who is mid-career and wants a big, fulfilling change – I want to help those people achieve their dreams, and anyone, everyone, who is passionate about early childhood education.”

But making those goals reality can be easier said than done. Many people face barriers that make furthering their education difficult. According to the 2021 Youth Survey report by Mission Australia, one in five respondents felt financial difficulty was a huge barrier to achieving study or work goals. Of course, we all know there’s no shortage of roles in the ECEC sector, there’s only a shortage of qualified, dedicated people to fill those roles, and that’s where The Fraser Foundation comes in.

Applications open

At the end of 2021, The Fraser Foundation officially launched and hit the ground running granting scholarships to dedicated educators to further their professional and personal goals.

Marisa is one of those first Fraser Foundation scholarship recipients. She became an educator 16 years ago, and with the financial support from The Fraser Foundation, is now studying for her Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Teaching with Swinburne Online, with its completion expected in July 2023 – delivering another qualified early childhood teacher for our sector

Marisa, who works at Bright Start Child Care in Brisbane, says it’s about $24,000 for the 12-month Graduate Diploma, something she’d struggle to pay for, and she’s thrilled to have received the support.

Becoming a qualified early childhood teacher means gaining an expert understanding of educational theory and pedagogical practices. The benefits of becoming an ECT include increased responsibilities, progression opportunities and the possibility of flexible hours. The timing couldn’t be better, as the demand for early childhood teachers is predicted to rise by nearly 10,000 roles in Australia by 2025.

“I will be a qualified ECT, and it will provide me with extensive knowledge within the sector, because it’s somewhere I want to stay. I’ve been in the sector for 16 years. In an educational leader role, I can use that to extend on other educator’s roles, their knowledge and give them guidance.”

Andrea, an educator at Eastwood Early Education in Toowoomba, has been in the sector for more than 10 years. She agrees she wouldn’t have been able to do the Graduate Diploma and become an ECT without The Fraser Foundation.

“There is absolutely no way I would have even been able to contemplate completing a degree like this,” Andrea says. “This assistance is allowing me to complete this course without the major financial impact and fulfil my dream to become a qualified early childhood teacher.”

Applications are now open! Are you or is there someone you know who’d be an incredible early childhood teacher but needs some help to get there?

If you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident enrolled or intend to enrol as a full time or part time student in any approved Australian early childhood education course, and can demonstrate a passion for and commitment to education and early childhood, we encourage you to apply for a scholarship from The Fraser Foundation now: https://www. thefraserfoundation.com.au/ applications