THREE grants for the education of girls and young women were launched by the Westpac Bank of Tonga yesterday to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the International Women's Day on March 8.

The Westpac Women's Education Grants worth a total of $1,900 will help three female students with the cost of their education.

Hosting a special breakfast at the bank's main branch in Nuku'alofa, General Manager Tonga, Paul Wilkinson, said there were three grants, $1,500 for tertiary education, $200 for high school and $200 for primary school.

Interested applicants are required to write an essay on how education will help them reach their education goals and applications will close on April 29. The grants recipients will be announced on May 16, 2011.

In announcing the grants, Paul said, "Our involvement with the International Women's Day is an opportunity for us to celebrate the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present and future."

The theme for the centenary international women's day was "Access to education, training, science and technology: pathway to decent work for women."

Paul said that working in a bank offers many opportunities and across the Westpac Group there are men and women enjoying equal opportunities.

"In Tonga this is a great example of women power as 68 percent of our employees are women, 58 percent of our management roles are women and 50 percent of our Senior Leadership team are women. "

He also noted that the General Manager of the Westpac Banking Corporation is also a woman, Gail Kelly.

Westpac continues to sell purple ribbons to mark the International Women's Day at all branches throughout Tonga with proceeds to be donated to the Women and Children Crisis Centre, which provides advocacy, counselling and support for those women who have experienced a range of violence and abuse.