River Nile School: empowering refugee women through education 

River Nile School (RNS) is an independent secondary college located in the heart of North Melbourne, and is dedicated to supporting young women aged 15 to 24 from refugee backgrounds by empowering them through education.

Founded as the River Nile Learning Centre in 2008, RNS has grown to become Melbourne’s only institution offering free senior secondary education, childcare, and extensive welfare support to young women from refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds since 2017.

Recognising that many of the women at RNS have faced trauma due to their refugee experiences, the school provides a safe and inclusive environment where young women can thrive in their learning.

“Some of our students have come directly from their country and are looking for cultural safety, and some have tried mainstream school and been disengaged for various reasons,” principal Charles Hertzog said.

“Whether it’s because the language is too hard, or they might not have the level of support they need,” he said.

RNS offers full-time programs leading to the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), Vocational Major (VM), and the Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC), all at no cost to students.

In addition to the VCE, VM and VPC programs, students at RNS have the opportunity to participate in a variety of other learning experiences.

The school nurse conducts health lessons for each class, and students can also take elective classes once a week to develop new skills, such as swimming, cooking, sewing, dance, music, drama, beauty, and podcasting.

“A lot of our women are so fierce in their own self-advocacy, that they are the person in the family that has advocated for their own education and been their own ambassador,” Mr Hertzog told North West City News.

“Some students tell me that this is the first place that they’ve felt safe in - it’s pretty special.”

One of RNS’s unique features is its open enrolment policy, allowing students to join the school at any time of the year, unlike most schools, which have fixed enrolment periods.

RNS is also committed to partnering with local stakeholders and organisations in the community to ensure they provide the best possible support and services to their students.

“It’s a really unique place, you can see in students there’s a real sense of gratitude,” Mr Hertzog said.

“I think because if you’ve had education taken away from you, it becomes really important to get back to that.” •