KSCWA State Chairman Nigel Hayward (right) congratulates Vincent Restifo, a religious education teacher at Chisholm Catholic College, on the receipt of his KSC Education Foundation scholarship. Photo: The Record.
By Robert Hiini
Forty-eight education scholarships were last month awarded by the Order of the Knights of the Southern Cross in Western Australia (KSCWA) to teachers seeking to receive accreditation to teach or lead in the religious learning area in their respective schools.
The scholarships were presented to the teachers at the Catholic Education Office in Leederville by KSCWA State Chairman Nigel Hayward and Acting Executive Director of Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA), Dr Debra Sayce.
The scholarships bring to 788 the total number of teachers who have benefitted from the KSCWA Education Foundation since it was established by the Knights in 1992.
“What we’re trying to do is to educate the children in the schools in their faith – what their faith is about,” KSCWA State Secretary Chris Hunt told The eRecord.
“I was trying to quantify, the other day, just how many children would have benefitted (as a consequence of the scholarships).
“It’s just an impossible equation.”
Recipients of KSC Education Foundation Scholarships, pictured with acting Executive Director of CEWA, Dr Debra Sayce, from second left: Cora D’Souza, Vincent Restifo, Dee O’Connor, Vicki Buchanan, Mark Cummins, Vlad Alonzo, Gemma Thomson and Georgie O’Brien. Photo: The Record.
The Foundation has awarded scholarships to the value of $1,760,000 – paid directly to the University of Notre Dame Australia – since the scheme began.
Mr Hunt described its establishment by his brotherly forebears as a “masterstroke”, forging a close relationship with the CEWA and offering support to the then-nascent Notre Dame in Fremantle.
Mr Hunt said he was reminded of a favourite phrase of civil rights agitator Malcolm X.
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.””
“While Malcolm X may seem a strange bedfellow for us, the Knights of the Southern Cross have always recognised, treasured and promoted the value of education in many different fields of human endeavour.
“Indeed, one of the Objects of the Order clearly states that we are ‘to conduct and support educational, charitable, religious and social welfare work.’”
The Foundation also supports the study of seminarians from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary at UNDA.
The total value of scholarships for the 2018 academic year is expected to be around $140,000.