Project name: TERNI ZOR / YOUNG POWER. Complex Support to Roma Youth for Equal Access to Higher Education

Time: 9 May 2011 – 9 May 2013

Grant: 155600 BGN

Donor: America for Bulgaria Foundation

Within the two-year project “TERNI ZOR / YOUNG POWER. Complex support to young Roma for equal access to higher education”, the Studii Romani Society for the Study of Minorities and the Student Society for the Development of Inter-ethnic Dialog worked jointly in support of 40 high school students and young people of Roma identity who received an intense and serious preparation for applying to universities, as well as in support of current and prospective doctoral students of whom 5 are already successfully working on their dissertations (4 in Bulgaria and one abroad) and 3 of whom have been prepared to apply to become doctoral students in such fields that will contribute to the better understanding of the Roma in Bulgaria.

Within the project, financial support was granted to 40 selected university applicants to enable them to afford private lessons and preparatory courses for their high school maturity exams and the university entrance exams. Besides that, the project team did substantial work in motivating the parents as well as individual work with applicants in selecting the universities and programs to which to apply. The project team supported applicants throughout the whole period of preparation, university and program selection, submitting documents, taking exams, enrolment into universities. Of the successfully enrolled program participants, 30 received scholarships covering the application fees, the exam fees and the tuition fees for the first academic year. The Roma doctoral students, on the other hand, had the opportunity to take advantage of mentorship and support in their preparation for exams and in preparing their dissertations.

Over 20 narrow specialists were included in implementing the project goals. They prepared the young people, and the results were more than successful – 75% of the prepared university applicants were enrolled in state universities, in such programs as Information Technologies, International Relations, Public Relations, Journalism, Information Security, Hungarian Philology, Balkan Studies, Industrial Management, Health Management, Obstetrics, Percussions, Civil Engineering and Architecture, Folk Choreography, Pedagogy etc.

The fact must be stressed that the Studii Romani-SSDID Consortium is the only organization that has over 8 years of experience and realization of successful university application campaigns in such a wide and elite range of programs and universities. We are the only ones supporting the specific wishes of applicant students and work for their professional growth within their chosen program.

Our Consortium is the only one in Bulgaria supporting doctoral applicants and doctoral students of Roma identity.

Statistics on the two–year project as to the prepared 40 university applicants of Roma identity and their results:

 

Prepared, by gender:

23 girls and 17 boys

 

Prepared, by subject:

Music and special musical subject: 8 applicants

Bulgarian language and literature: 5 applicants

Mathematics: 3 applicants

History: 4 applicants

Geography: 3 applicants

Ethics and law: 10 applicants

Arts (Theatre and choreography) - 2 applicants

Chemistry: 1 applicant

English language: 2 applicants

Russian language: 1 applicant

Biology: 1 applicant

 

Accepted, by gender:

16 girls and 14 boys

 

Accepted, by university:

The St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia: 5 students

Medical University, Sofia: 8 students

The Neofit Rilski South-Western University, Blagoevgrad: 2 students

The Prof. Pancho Vladigerov Naitonal Academy of Music: 2 students

The Prof. Assen Zlatarov University of Burgas: 4 students

The Sts. Cyril and Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo: 2 students

University of Library and Information Science, Sofia: 1 student

University of Economics, Varna: 1 student

The Konstantin Preslavski University of Shumen: 1 student

The Vassil Levski National Military University, Veliko Tarnovo: 1 student

Academy for Musical, Dance and Visual Arts, Plovdiv: 1 student

University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy: 1 student

The Lyuben Karavelov Higher School for Civil Engineering, Sofia: 1 student

 

By spheres of study:

Arts: 6 students

Health care: 8 students

Information technologies and marketing: 5 students

Pedagogy: 1 student

Philologies: 2 students

PR and Journalism: 2 students

Tourism: 2 students

History: 1 student

International relations: 1 student

Architecture: 2 students

 

Preparation:

By locality:

From small localities: 22 applicants

From regional centers: 7 applicants

From Sofia: 11 applicants

By age:

Under 20 y/o: 29 applicants

Over 20 y/o: 11 applicants