Aayushi Khillan proclaimed youth champion at prestigious Melbourne Awards 2020

Indian-Australian youth icon, Aayushi Khillan has been bestowed with the coveted youth champion award at the Melbourne Awards 2020 for her invaluable efforts to help young school students whose education was disrupted due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Aayushi who, along with her family, migrated to Australia from her home country India at the age of three is currently a scholarship-holding Biomedicine student at the University of Melbourne. This award is not the first one that she has been honoured with, as prior to this achievement she was also recently one of the youngest award winners among the 40 under 40 Most Influential Australian Asians 2020 for her dedicated endeavours in the field of education. Last year, following a campaign by the Victorian Student Representative Council, she was selected as the first student representative on the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), which advises on school texts, class content and assessments for every student in the state.

Aayushi feels that being the sole student representative on the VCAA board, she has always acknowledged her crucial role but during the pandemic, her responsibilities became even more significant as students braved many challenges and obstacles due to the drastic changes brought on by the shift to online learning as normal classroom learning was rendered impossible due to the lockdown and social distancing norms. There were several requirements, specifically for Year 12 students not only in terms of learning on virtual platforms but also staying abreast of all the assignments and projects. Aayushi fulfilled her role by putting across the needs of the students to the board so that these are kept in mind while making changes to the curriculum. She has also played an instrumental role in making the curriculum for Year 12 students more flexible and less stressful. Her recommendations to defer the examination and make the syllabus more streamlined will likely be an important factor in easing the struggles of the students, as the board has consented to consider these while making the final changes.

Aayushi Khillan

A trailblazer in the truest sense of the word, Aayushi has always been a strong advocate for inclusion of life skills in the school curriculum so that youngsters are armed with all the requisite expertise to carve a niche for themselves in the real world. She also feels that in the current scenario youngsters need to be aware of all the strategies to survive in a world reeling under the blow delivered by the coronavirus pandemic. Acting as a liaison between the students and the board, she has been interacting with the students to comprehend the issues that they are facing and conveying the same to the board.

Apart from her work with VCAA, Aayushi has also been working as the executive officer for a not-for-profit organization, Bodyworks. In her role as the executive officer, she has been visiting primary schools to spread awareness about health and is also one of the members of a committee which has been planning to include a pandemic module in the school curriculum.

The youth icon who considers US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as her role model, aspires to set an example for others and continue her good work of championing the struggles of youngsters and empower them.