LIVE BROADCAST FRIDAY AT 11 CET: Award ceremony for Romani students receiving scholarships from the ROMEA organization
Once again, an enormous number of Romani high school and university students applied to the ROMEA organization's scholarship program this year. Of 180 applications, this summer the commission chose 80 students who, on Friday 20 October, will receive their scholarship certificates during a ceremony in the Old Town Hall in Prague and who will then attend a concert that evening by graduates and students in the program.
The ROMEA organization’s scholarship program is built on comprehensive support for students and a comprehensive evaluation of their applications. Those who are awarded the scholarships include students of architecture, economics, history, information science, law, medicine and pedagogy.
“This year an enormous amount of applications were submitted, which I perceive as positive because it demonstrates that the number of Romani students is continually increasing. From a total number of 180 applications, the selection commission had to choose just 80. We would love to support everybody, but unfortunately the budget for this project does not permit it,” said Štefan Balog, who is the manager of the scholarship program for the ROMEA organization.
In the evening, after the ceremony, there will be a concert by the students to thank those supporting the program, who will have an opportunity to meet the scholarship recipients and speak with them. “This concert came about quite spontaneously as the idea of some of the scholarship recipients who sang for us at the BARUVAS meetings and who promised each other to form a band and perform. My colleague Štefan Balog and I agreed that it would be brilliant to give them a venue and they accepted the challenge gladly. The Romens Pardubice band will also perform,” said Vanesa Harvanová, coordinator of educational activities for the ROMEA organization.
The beginning of the concert will also be broadcast live by ROMEA TV online. The ROMEA organization’s scholarship program is implemented with the support of many foundations, the biggest of which are the Albatros Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, and many individual donors and firms.
