Just a quick rehash of DS's current situation. He did not want to be grade skipped so chose subject acceleration, we have therefore ended up with dual enrolment at high school and university. This lead to him not being eligible for any scholarships as he did not meet the criteria. By and large the majority of scholarships are for school leavers or continuing students attending on campus.
I have not been satisfied with this situation and a lot of this dissatisfaction isn't necessarily monetary but rather the lack of acknowledgement. The years and years of working above grade level, being a role model, putting in the hard yards etc and I'm not only talking about my son here but all gifted children.
So at the beginning of last year when he started his degree I started lobbying. I wrote to my State member of parliament, my Federal member of parliament, the education minister (State and Federal) and the university. I received replies from all of them but alas nothing was available. Every couple of months I would send of another round of updates regarding my son's progress and lamenting the lack of recognition and support that the gifted population receives. In short what a shocking and deplorable state of affairs this was.
Well today I received word from the university that they would like DS to attend a ceremony where he will be presented with an Award ( a term they use for awarding an amount of money not associated with sholarships). I also received a phone call from the undergraduate scholarships committee stating that the criteria for all their scholarships is now under review. I think this final phone call is the most satisfying for me because at the end of the day it boiled down to it being the principle of the matter. Who knows, the review may not change anything but at least it is happening.
