Akademos Society has spent over a decade lending a helping hand to disadvantaged academic students in Afghanistan and Pakistan through financial support.
It began after a group of young Hazara students, many refugees themselves, attended a candlelight solidarity vigil for the victims of terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2013.
Some like Arif Hazara, secretary and treasurer at Akademos, local to Greater Dandenong participated in many youth programs by the council, Victorian Government, Refugee Council and many more.
Since the Taliban terrorist group takeover of Afghanistan, the not-for-profit organisation have continued their work but they must tread carefully after the initial temporary disruption in 2021 after the fall of Kabul.
One of its board members, Shikofa Azizullah is a medical doctor practicing at a tertiary hospital in Queensland, who recently graduated Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Melbourne.
She says due to Taliban’s education ban on girls and women, they no longer have any female applicants for their services like Akademos study grant in Afghanistan, which provides grants to school graduates to apply to universities.
“We have to be a lot more wary about posting images of students online, previously only personal circumstances were considered, but now it’s more so a risk to the safety of our students that we worry about.
“Females were the main students we supported simply because the male receive support, it’s the females that miss out on educational opportunities, particularly when there are kids and financial difficulties.
“Most of the students were supported were female, reflecting the reality that when resources are limited, girls are far more likely than boys to miss out in education, particularly in families facing financial hardships.
“We have plentiful educational opportunities in Australia and that’s not the same for lots of disadvantaged children in Afghanistan Pakistan.
“We know that when these students are provided that opportunity (scholarships) they really seize it, make absolute most of it.”
The group had identified education an empowerment tool to create generational change and more than a decade later, Akademos Society now have board members spread across Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra as well as Melbourne’s south east.
A registered charity, the not-for-profit organisation provides scholarships to college students, grants for university students and have expanded their services through programs like Kids Off the Streets (KOTS) in Afghanistan.
Since 2023, there are 28 children part of KOTS, due to safety concerns only limited number of children can be introduced to the program.
Akademos Society urges the community to donate, fundraise, and raise awareness about the program as they are completely dependent on the generosity of the community.
The team are made up of young full-time professionals as accountants, finance analyst, cardiologist, human resource specialist, business managers, doctors and so on.
The model of the organisation is forming partnerships with existing organisations on the ground such as the Champion Academy in Hazara Town, UMMAT Education and Cultural Organisation, and RahnawardNoor School to help disadvantaged and child labourers to attend school and Najiba’s Computer Lab program in Daikundi, considered one of the most remote and impoverished province of Afghanistan.
Najiba studied mining engineering in Japan and continued to work in Kabul.
In 2017, the Taliban blew up the vehicle she was travelling in to work.
The computer program was named to honour Najiba however, the program has discontinued.
The organisation recently expanded its services to include Akademos Plus preparing Akademos students into highly sought after university places through subsidised University entry test preparatory classes.
It also established first ever program supporting disadvantaged students within Australia, providing a one-off grant to former Akademos scholars pursuing higher studies in Australia to assist with the cost of their studies.
Regular updates and student impact stories are shared on the charity’s social media pages, AkademosSociety.
To donate visit, akademossociety.org/donate/
