	{"id":113150,"date":"2025-06-09T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=113150"},"modified":"2025-06-05T09:43:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T23:43:50","slug":"funding-to-support-student-driving-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/funding-to-support-student-driving-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Funding to support student driving program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A GRANT from Study Melbourne&#8217;s inclusion program will support Federation University in developing an International Student Driving Program.<\/p>\n<p>The $30,000 grant aims to help international students build confidence and is the only Study Melbourne inclusion program funding awarded to a university this year.<\/p>\n<p>The program will include structured driving experience for students who hold an international driving license but lack confidence on Australian roads.<\/p>\n<p>In a survey conducted by the university, 180 international students expressed interest in the initiative and more than 50 per cent said they have low driving confidence.<\/p>\n<p>University counsellors have also reported increases in driving related anxiety and accidents, impacting students&#8217; work and social lives.<\/p>\n<p>Social work student Zhou Peng, who is from China, hasn&#8217;t driven for many years and said this program will assist her in building confidence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t driven since I got my license in China more than ten years ago,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Driving here is really different, and that makes it intimidating.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Public transport isn&#8217;t always reliable, and not having the option to drive makes life harder.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The program will be co-designed by final year IT and Masters of Social Work students.<\/p>\n<p>To find out more about the program, visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federation.edu.au\/\">Federation University<\/a> website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A GRANT from Study Melbourne&#8217;s inclusion program will support Federation University in developing an International Student Driving Program. The $30,000 grant aims to help international students build confidence and is the only Study Melbourne inclusion program funding awarded to a university this year. The program will include structured driving experience for students who hold an [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/funding-to-support-student-driving-program\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":113151,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-113150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Funding to support student driving program - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Federation University\u2019s new International Student Driving Program, backed by grant, helps students gain confidence on Australian roads.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/funding-to-support-student-driving-program\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Funding to support student driving program - 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