CABEI provides scholarsips to 84 schoolchildren in 4 Honduran municipalities

84 elementary school students from 4 Honduran municipalities will receive scholarships to finance their studies from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).

In coordination with the Honduran Ministry of Education, CABEI’s project, “Promoting Academic Excellence,” will provide funds permitting the students to continue their education for three years. The initiative falls under the axis of Social Development, which is part of CABEI’s 2010-2014 Institutional Strategy.

The project, which began yesterday, consists of providing a 3-year scholarship to elementary school students with the highest academic averages at four elementary schools located in the municipalities of Tomalá, in the Department of Lempira; Manto, in the Dpartment of Olancho; Chinda, in the Department of Santa Bárbara; and San Marcos, in the Department of Ocotepeque.

The elementary schools are basic education centers built and equipped with funds from “Spain’s Debt Conversion Program to Honduras,” which is administered by CABEI through the project, “Construction, Equipment and Training of Obligatory Basic Education Centers including pre-school education to ninth grade in extremely poor communities.”

Formerly, the four beneficiary municipalities lacked adequate conditions for education. Since the basic education centers began operating in these municipalities, there has been a significant increase in annual student enrollment and a reduction in dropout rates. CABEI Executive President Dr. Nick Rischbieth noted that as a result of these positive effects, the Bank had decided to provide more assistance to these communities.

A total of 1,700 students attend the Centers annually, and 84 of these will be be chosen to receive the 3-year scholarships.

The first place scholarships will amount to L. 9,000.00, and the second place scholarships to L. 7,000.00 annually.Each scholarship student must maintain his/her level of academic excellence in order to continue receiving the scholarship for the remaining two years. The scholarship students will be selected by personnel from the Centers and from CABEI, who will determine the first and second place winners for each grade based on the students’ 2012 academic results as demonstrated by official documentation from the Ministry of education.

Through the execution of this project, CABEI seeks to promote the academic excellence of primary school students in extremely poor communities. The Bank’s contribution will permit the best students to acquire educational material, to attend classes under acceptable conditions and to feel proud of their skills and knowledge.
The initiative will have a direct impact on compliance with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), specifically with regard to those targeting the achievement of universal education and the promotion of gender equity, which also fall in the framework of the CABEI strategy.