More than 40 future Roma professionals receive academic scholarships

At 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 29, Prague’s theater D 21 will host a mid-afternoon
gala to recognize Romani university students who won scholarships from the Roma
Education Fund (REF) for the academic year 2012/2013. In its thirteenth year,
the Roma Memorial University Scholarship Program (RMUSP) supports 44 Romani
students in the Czech Republic in 2012 and has spent well over two million Euros
on scholarships across the region since its establishment.

REF’s Scholarship Program aims to build Roma educational achievements in
higher education and provide essential assistance that allows recipients to
complete their studies. The program works to build a network of Romani
professionals and promotes Roma inclusion in all aspects of the national
education systems of countries participating in the Roma Decade.

REF’s Scholarship Gala is designed to recognize these future Romani
professionals for their achievements so far while also publicly acknowledging
their Romani heritage. Today, Romani university students will also debate and
share experiences with REF representatives as well as Czech Television’s Roma
reporter, Richard Samko. The gala will be moderated by journalist Jarmila
Balážová, chairwoman of ROMEA, underlining that Romani students should have the
same opportunities for study, careers, and social advancement as any other
student.

A total number of 60 applications were submitted earlier this year. REF’s
Czech National Selection Board evaluated and assessed the applications after
they were vetted for eligibility by the REF Scholarship team. Applicants had to
demonstrate not only their grade point average but also a commitment to study
and other experiences. The beneficiaries’ most popular fields of study include
education, economics, liberal arts, as well as medicine, law, and engineering.

Czech society so far has regarded Roma in higher education as anomalies.
However, these current students prove that higher education is not solely the
domain of the majority; some scholarship students have been supported by REF
scholarship program during their entire course of studies. In the Czech Republic,
the administration of RMUSP is assisted by the ROMEA civic association.

REF Scholarship Program offers merit-based open competition academic
scholarships for eligible Romani students at the university level (BA, MA, or
PhD) in the Czech Republic since 2005. The gala will introduce prospective Roma
professionals and encourage them in their careers ahead.