Three Filipino public servants are set to bring home advanced global expertise in public health, digital transit, and civil service after being selected in the Australia Awards Scholarships program.
Dasha Uy from the Department of Health, Gigi Marabella from the Civil Service Commission, and Rhodolph Nullar from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) are part of the Australia Awards Scholarships program and are currently undergoing postgraduate tracks at top-tier universities in Melbourne, aiming to directly address governmental gaps upon their return.
Australia Awards Scholarships provide Filipino citizens with fully funded opportunities to pursue postgraduate studies (Master’s and PhD degrees) at top-tier Australian tertiary institutions. Administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), these prestigious awards cover full tuition, return airfare, establishment allowances, and living expenses.
Uy, taking up a Master in Health Promotion in her thesis presented at Deakin University, titled “Health-Promoting Schools at the Margins: An Explanatory Case Study on the Healthy Learning Institutions Program in Philippine Last-Mile Schools,” aims to identify enablers and barriers to the effective implementation of the Healthy Learning Institutions (HLI) framework in the LMS context, and to examine how these can be leveraged or mitigated to strengthen and sustain program delivery.
Uy said her study aims at “Helping our teachers, especially in out Last Mile Schools care for themselves, care for tinier own MH as well as creating more mentally healthy environments for our last mile learners.”
Uy who started in 2022 said, “Imagine a school where the classrooms have no walls, just a tarpaulin stretched under the sun. There are schools all over the Philippines where electricity, water, and even teaching time are rationed. There are schools where children cross rivers, rice fields, and rainforests just to get to class. In these last-mile schools (LMSs), providing learners with quality education is a challenge, and their health is an afterthought.”
Nullar, who is from the Philippine Railways Institute, is a Senior Transportation Development Officer of the Safety and Security Section under the Training Division and is likewise at Deakin University starting 2023, finishing his Master’s studies. His advanced studies on business data analytics, artificial intelligence, and predictive modeling involve active participation with the Deakin Business and Analytics Society.
Upon his return to the government, Nullar will focus on railway safety and security, operational efficiency, and institutional innovation.
Marabella, who started in 2025. from the CSC, is pursuing her advanced studies in Educational Leadership at Monash University aiming to enhance leadership competencies of the whole bureaucracy in the Philippines.
Marabella aims to help upgrade the CSC by developing data-driven instructional design frameworks to modernize the national training curriculum for public sector supervisors and executives.
Australia Awards Scholarships are offered for the minimum period necessary for the individual to complete the academic program specified by the Australian higher education institution with a comprehensive re entry plan to home countries. By Maria Elena Catajan
