Mentor program for disadvantaged children in Hungary

Over the last school year, more than 20.000 disadvantaged students and their mentors received financial support by the scholarship program of the Ministry of Education in Hungary. Application packages for the current school year must be submitted till 8th October.

Over the last school year, more than 20.000 disadvantaged students and their mentors received financial support by the scholarship program of the Ministry of Education in Hungary. Application packages for the current school year must be submitted till 8th October.

The scholarship program has three divisions aiming to help in students pursuing secondary education.
“Way to high school” prepares children for entering high schools, “Way to graduation” scholarship aims to detain dropouts and help students in finishing their studies, while “Way to get a profession” aims to create the connections between schools and the labour market.
The annual budget of the three programs is HUF 2 milliard.
Scholarships of students may vary from 3.500 – 4. 500 HUF per month, their tutors (mentors) get HUF 4.000 per student per month. On top of the monthly amount mentors are awarded complementary scholarships, depending on achieved results.
The Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture took over the actuation of the scholarship program from the Tempus Public Foundation in 2005. Since then the liquidation of the scholarship program got smoother, and easier.
Timea Borovszky, Head of the Roma Integration Office said that Katapult, the scholarship program of the Ministry of Education available for students pursuing tertiary studies is awaiting more than 700 disadvantaged students this year.
The Katapult program aims to help socially disadvantaged students by offering different training programs, or community building programs.
All socially disadvantaged students are entitled to enter the program once they are enrolled in the higher education establishments. Their mentors are university students in higher grades, they are selected though an oral and a written exam series. Mentors of university students receive scholarships that amount to HUF 10. 000 monthly. The annual budget of the Katapult program is HUF 36 million.

Deadline for application: 08.10.2007
Application forms are downloadable : www.okmt.hu/pályázatok

For further info, please contact:
Oktatási és Kulturális Minisztérium Támogatáskezelõ Igazgatósága
Postacím: 1374 Budapest, Pf. 564
Telefon: (+361) 301-3200; (+361) 301-3271
Fax: (1) 301-3220
E-mail:
utravalo@okmt.hu