250 Dominican students will receive scholarships to attend high school with CABEI support

Santo Domingo, October 17, 2023.- A total of 250 Dominican students of limited resources with academic excellence will receive scholarships to attend five years of secondary school thanks to the Bicentennial Scholarship Program promoted by the Social Support Foundation (FAS) of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).

The initiative will benefit up to 50 students per year, for 5 years, with a subsidy that will allow them to cover, throughout high school, annual expenses such as the purchase of teaching materials, uniforms, transportation, academic tools, food, school materials, connectivity, among others.

According to data from the National Statistics Office (ONE in Spanish), during 2022 in the Dominican Republic only 50.8% of the population over 19 years of age completed high school, so the Bicentennial Scholarships will help close the education gap and increase the number of students who complete their secondary education.

The non-reimbursable financial cooperation agreement for up to US$625,000 was signed between CABEI, the Ministry of Education and the Supérate Program, which will be in charge of selecting the prioritized educational centers and the students who will benefit from the scholarships at the national level.

The Bicentennial Scholarship Program is a regional initiative whose objective is to support at least 1,125 students from CABEI member countries that make up the Central American Integration System (SICA), providing them with the basic necessities to continue their studies, encouraging them to obtain a better quality of life.

Hostos Rizik, CABEI Director for the Dominican Republic, highlighted that this initiative responds to the actions of the multilateral institution in support of the human development axis, seeking to generate effective social capacities and favor the transformation of the education system to improve the quality of life of citizens.

The FAS was created by CABEI in 2021 with the purpose of promoting high social impact projects in member countries, accelerating the region's development. This is achieved by promoting activities that complement and strengthen the Bank's strategic objectives, and through external resources that allow it to broaden the scope of initiatives by joining efforts that contribute to the reduction of extreme poverty.