Fifty students in the first year of study at eight Moldovan universities will receive 6,000 lei each as part of the “Scholarships for Your Future!” Project. The winners were announced today in a ceremony organized by the Educational Advising Center (EAC), IPN reports.

The initiative's target group included students from low-income families, families with numerous children, orphans or students with disabilities, as well as students with a high academic standing. This year, applications were sent by 126 students from 13 institutions. The applications were examined by a commission of independent experts.

“We are all aware of the sad fact that many students in Moldova today face difficulties both with continuing their studies and with procuring the materials needed to study. This is why we are very glad that, together with our partner Moldova Agroindbank, we've been able to continue a socially valuable project in a reinvented format. It's important that thanks to this program we are facilitating education for a group of young people in need, who hopefully will make good use of our support and translate it into excellent academic achievements”, said EAC director Angela Muset.

Attending the event, acting Deputy Education Minister Igor Grosu said that Moldova needs well-trained young people. “Investing in young people that have a good academic standing and an attitude of civic engagement will stimulate them even more in the future”.

The “Scholarships for Your Future!” Project is a follow-up to the “Supplementary Scholarships for Young People from Disadvantaged Families”, which was implemented for three years (until 2012) with the support of the Open Society Foundations. Since 2011, this initiative has enjoyed the support of Moldova Agroindbank. In the previous four annual editions, a total of $661,500 was offered in 758 scholarships. Starting from this year, the bank has fully covered the support, offering 400,000 lei for the 50 awarded scholarships.