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Chapter 5. Muszyna Almanac Scholarship Fund
The Muszyna Almanac Scholarship Fund has been in existence
since 1999, when its first ten-month scholarship and two one-off stipends
were granted. Over 250 recipients have benefited from the Scholarship
Found during its nearly 15 years existence, and the value of those scholarship
have totalled more than a quarter of a million złotys. The Muszyna Almanac
scholarships are addressed to scholastically and artistically gifted young
people who also stand out for their involvement in community affairs.
The candidate’s material situation is also taken into account.
Scholarship assistance is granted according to rules
established by the Siociety of Friends of Muszyna Almanac. At the start
of the school year, a public scholarship announcement is issued indicating
the type and number of scholarships to be granted for the coming school
year. As a result, all students have an equal opportunity to compete for
a scholarship and know they must get down to serious study to benefit
from the Scholarship Fund in the following year. We want the opportunity
of scholarship assistance to have a mobilising effect on students.
Scholarships are granted in the following five categories:
scholastic scholarships for the best scores on
school-leaving exams (the largest number of points),
social-scholastic scholarships for high-achieving
and socially involved young people from Muszyna secondary school and the
middle schools of Muszyna, PowroĽnik and Złockie, who require assistance
due to their material situation;
artistic scholarships for gifted young
people requiring assistance due to their material situation;
social-scholastic scholarships for gifted young
people from Stará Lubovla, Slovakia, grated in cooperation with the AMOS
Association;
scholastic-social scholarships (known as bridge
scholarships) for school leavers from Muszyna who have been accepted
to a university.
The procedure whereby candidates are submitted is linked
to the Teachers’ Councils of the Secondary School of Muszyna, the State
Music School of Krynica and the middle Schools of Muszyna, Złockie and
PowroĽnik. Upon carefully analysing all the candidatures, the Councils
selects the best candidates competing for Muszyna Almanac Scholarships.
There also exists the possibility that a young person, who feels he or
she has fulfilled all the Scholarship Fund’s requirements, could apply
directly to the Teachers’ Council as a candidate. The Association has
set up Scholarship Committees which decide which candidates are to receive
a Muszyna Almanac scholarship and in what amount. The composition of the
committees must be quantitatively dominated by members from beyond Muszyna
and Krynica, and the principle that conflicts of interest must be avoided
is rigorously observed.
At the start of July, the Committee in charge of scholastic
and scholastic-social scholarships interviews prospective recipients of
scholastic and scholastic-social scholarships and on that basis decides
whether or not to grant a scholarship and in what amount.
The decision to award artistic scholarships is taken
by the Artistic Scholarship Committee on the basis of the candidates’
performance at a public concert which is also held in July.
The scholarship-awarding ceremony always takes place
on the first Saturday of July at Wanda’s Garden in Muszyna. It is held
during the annual meeting of the Friends of the Muszyna Almanac in the
presence of the sponsors of the scholarship programme. The signing of
scholarship agreements takes place towards the end of the summer vacation.
The scholarship monies are transferred to the bank accounts of the recipients
or their parents.
The 2013 meeting will mark the 15th anniversary
of the first Muszyna Almanac Scholarship. A gathering of all hitherto
Muszyna Almanac recipients is planned on that day.
The capital of the Muszyna Almanac Scholarship Fund encompasses
freewill donations received during the distribution of the Muszyna Almanac
yearbook as well as grants from the Batory Foundation’s Equal Opportunity
programme and the Educational Entrepreneurship Foundation’s Bridge Scholarship
programme. The Muszynianka Cooperative has also contributed to the scholarship
fund. All donors are listed in successive editions of the Muszyna Almanac
as well as online at: www.almanachmuszyny.pl.
A special bank account has been set up at Bank PKO BP. Contributions to
the scholarship fund may be transferred by donors to: Account No. 45 1020
3453 0000 8402 0175 8861, Stowarzyszenie Przyjaciół Almanachu Muszyny.
100% of the contributions are applied to the scholarship fund.
In order to maintain contacts between past and present
scholarship recipients, a subsection entitled Scholarship Recipients’
Circle has been developed at the Muszyna Almanac’s Website www.almanachmuszyny.pl
which provides information about our beneficiaries. The Website plays
the role of information base both for and on scholarship holders. The
Association makes use of the latest communication media to maintain ties
between past and current Muszyna Almanac scholarship recipients. In addition
to their own webpage, the scholarship recipients have accounts at social-networking
sites and make use of e-mail addresses. Once a year they come together
at a general meeting to determine which of the Association’s activities
they wish to become involved in as well as present ideas for new initiatives.
To assist scholarship recipients in planning their careers,
each year in May we organise for them an annual meeting with people in
various fields of public and economic life who have achieved success in
their particular professions. Outstanding scholarship recipients get to
take part in the Young Leaders Forum which accompanies Krynica’s annual
Economic Forum.
Research conducted by non-governmental organisations
on the future fate of students who had received scholarships, especially
the scholastic ones, has shown that 80% of them complete higher studies.
That has also been the case amongst our scholarship recipients, thereby
reaffirming the point of our programme. The data collected on the careers
of our scholarship recipients constitute an important guideline for the
Association’s activities. They reaffirm the importance of scholarship
assistance to local young people. The educational level of the younger
generation after all translates into the development of our entire region.
Several of our former scholarship recipients have joined
the Society of Friends of Muszyna Almanac. To us that is important, because
it shows that the Muszyna Almanac scholarships help shape the awareness
of the younger generation in the direction of active community involvement.
In a sense, it is a way of thanking the community for the assistance they
received during their student career.
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