Welcome to the RNLC Website

The River Nile Learning Centre Inc was founded in Melbourne, Australia, in 2006 as a response to the educational difficulties faced by young refugees from the Horn of Africa whose education had been severely disrupted. Over the periodsince then, the focus of our services has moved to young refugee women, especially those who are pregnant or have small children. Our primary aim is to develop ways for these students to achieve their potential in life by helping them either to move on to further education or to gain meaningful employment.

The educational needs of the students we work with are unique. Many had no formal education before arriving in Australia and have struggled to succeed in mainstream education. Many with low levels of literacy have been placed in age-appropriate classes & found they could not cope. This leads to disengagement and disllusion.

The complexity of life for all refugee students is increased by the social issues related to living in a very different country and dealing with issues of trauma from their past lives. In addition to the general issues affecting students from this background, many of our students have to learn to be mothers, deal with issues of separation from family and learn how to live independently.

Use this website to learn about the issue of refugee education and what the RNLC does. We also need continued support in order to provide our important services, please consider supporting us. Details can be found on the ‘How to Help’ page.

News Monday 19 December 2011 We begin operating from our new location, Level 1, 385 Queensberry St North Melbourne. Recent Grants 2011 Helen Macpherson Smith Foundation $25,000 Jack & Hedy Brent Foundation $ 4,000 National Australia Bank $ 2,000