The Jerusalem Foundation will manage the Jerusalem Scholarships Fund established at the initiative of the Jerusalem Municipality in partnership with the Jerusalem Foundation and Mifal HaPayis. Half the scholarships will be awarded to graduates of Jerusalem high schools.
The Jerusalem Foundation will manage the Jerusalem Scholarships Fund established at the initiative of the Jerusalem Municipality, enabling students enrolled at higher education institutions in Jerusalem to receive tuition assistance. The scholarships, each in the amount of 10,000 NIS, will be given in exchange for 140 hours of social involvement contributing to the community.
The Jerusalem Scholarships Fund of approximately 6 million NIS will pool together budgetary and philanthropic sources for scholarships to students learning in the capital. The Jerusalem Municipality, the Mifal HaPayis Israeli lottery and the Jerusalem Foundation are partners in this endeavor, yet students will have a single address, the Jerusalem Foundation, where they can secure volunteer opportunities and receive tuition assistance. The NGOs in Jerusalem will be partners in most scholarships, providing half of the scholarship amount. The Jerusalem Municipality and the Jerusalem Foundation also agreed that 50% of the scholarships will be awarded to Jerusalem students who completed high school in the city.
The Jerusalem Scholarship Fund significantly expands the Jerusalem Foundation’s scholarships program, awarded annually to more than 120 students at Jerusalem’s higher education institutions in the arts, engineering and technology in exchange for integrating in social and community projects in Jerusalem. Thus, for example, through the program, Bezalel art students work with special needs youth on the joint creation of art; students from the Academy of Music & Dance operate a music center for Kiryat Menachem youth and students at the Azrieli College of Engineering teach computer applications to Holocaust survivors.
“The goal is to help students with financial difficulties or those who excel in their fields of study, so that we can strengthen higher education institutions in the city, strengthen the NGOs that need volunteers and, naturally, strengthen both their connections with Jerusalem and their professional experience,” said Ruth Diskin, the Jerusalem Foundation’s Director of Projects.
“This welcome partnership between the Foundation, Municipality and Mifal HaPayis,” explains the Jerusalem Foundation’s Director-General Anat Tzur, “enables the pooling of our resources. The Jerusalem Scholarship Fund is an excellent example of a comprehensive view of the scholarships system in Jerusalem and leverage for additional fundraising.”
Mayor Nir Barkat said “the scholarship fund that we established will encourage student involvement in social projects throughout the city and form more connections between the students and the communities that Jerusalem is so well known for. Jerusalem provides a student experience like no other. The new Jerusalem Scholarship Fund is an additional step we are taking for the benefit of young people in Jerusalem.”
