Pre-uni commerce course for ACT students

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Pre-uni commerce course for ACT students

6 minute read

Local high school students from Canberra and surrounding regions can discover the world of accounting, business, management, economics and finance early, with the launch of the ANU College of Business and Economics’ (CBE) Global Perspectives in Commerce (GPC) course. This course will commence in April, at the start of Term 2 in the school system calendar, and applications are open now until 14 February.

“The researchers and academics at CBE played a significant role in developing the syllabus for this course, choosing the most exciting aspects of their fields with real relevance to current events. As well as gaining a better understanding of what the disciplines study at the tertiary level, students will also gain knowledge that will help them comprehend the workings of the business and financial world, and economies around us,” explains Dr Bronwen Whiting, CBE’s Associate Dean (Education). 

This new program will enable a diverse group of students from local schools to be exposed to an in-person university course and become immersed in the ANU community.

Aside from the opportunity to apply the lessons they learn to facilitate problem solving, Rosa Pearson, CBE’s Deputy Manager, Student Recruitment and Partnerships (National), believes GPC will give ACT students a taste of university life before formally commencing their higher education.

“This new program will enable a diverse group of students from local schools, both government and non-government, to be exposed to an in-person university course and become immersed in the ANU community, all while in year 11 and 12. This experience will help them successfully transition from school to university and provide the chance to start working towards their future academic and career goals early,” Rosa says.

Shedding light on how the GPC came about, Kevin Howard, the Executive Teacher at the ACT Education and Training Directorate, shares that there has always been a demand for commerce to be made available to local students.

“The ANU Extension program offers a range of subjects from languages to mathematics, but it had nothing on commerce. Schools, students and parents wanted to give pre-university teenagers a broad overview of the issues confronting businesses and economies from a national, regional and global viewpoint. Over many months in 2020, I met with CBE academics to gain an insight into how a commerce course would look, including its content. We set about writing and developing the course and it’s now recognised as the “Global Perspectives in Commerce,” Kevin says.

Two units will be taught over two years during GPC: The first unit will examine global issues, while analysing the strategic decision-making of governments and individuals in response to global and regional issues; the second unit will focus on the accountability issues of governments and corporations in society in the context of sustainability and social justice.

Lindy Braithwaite, Assistant Principal at Canberra’s Radford College, believes that the course will better prepare young students for careers related to the College’s disciplines.

“GPC will develop the entrepreneurial flair and business savvy of students by extending their knowledge and giving them the opportunity to generate ideas with like-minded students from across the ACT. They will learn concepts from all the areas within CBE, including economics, quantitative methods and business management, so they will be better prepared for future pathways in these disciplines, as well as have access to the facilities at ANU. Having seen some of the practical activities in the program, we hope it will also be hands-on fun,” Lindy shares.

 

The Global Perspectives in Commerce course will commence in April, at the start of Term 2, 2021, and applications are open now until 14 February. Click here to apply and for more details.

The ANU College of Business and Economics offers an extensive range of specialised programs. Click here for more details.