Almost 900 students from Belarus have been granted NAWA scholarships for studies at Polish universities under the ‘Solidary with Students’ measure, whose objective is to support the Belarusians. The measure is a part of the government initiative ‘Solidary with Belarus.’

The Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) and the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (CRASP) have selected the beneficiaries of the ‘Solidary with Students’ measure. Almost 900 Belarusian citizens will study at 73 Polish universities thanks to support in the form of NAWA scholarships.

‘The interest among young Belarusians in scholarships that would allow them to study in Poland is very high. I am happy that, together with CRASP, we could address that need and that such a large group of individuals could take up studies in their chosen fields,’ says NAWA Director Dr. Grażyna Żebrowska. ‘Financial support is not the only type of assistance we can offer. We are planning to prepare online lectures and meetings for the scholarship holders on the topics of, among others, the development of academic career in Poland, the principles and procedures related to the legalisation of stay in Poland, but also the ways of dealing with difficult life situations,’ Dr. Grażyna Żebrowska adds.

The most popular universities and fields of study

The Belarusian students chose the universities and fields of study themselves. Most beneficiaries of the ‘Solidary with Students’ measure have taken up education at the University of Warsaw, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, the University of Lodz, Warsaw School of Economics, Bialystok University of Technology, and the University of Bialystok.

The most popular fields of study among the scholarship holders are: management, IT, tourism and recreation, international relations, logistics, and medicine.

‘The universities showed solidarity and offered the opportunity to study in Poland to young Belarusians who could lose the chance to obtain higher education on account of the situation in their home country,’ says Prof. Arkadiusz Mężyk, president of CRASP. ‘Polish universities have been very popular among the Belarusian youth for several years now. Belarusians are the second largest group of foreign students in Poland, right after Ukrainians,’ Prof. Mężyk adds.

NAWA scholarships

The budget for the ‘Solidary with Students’ measure amounts to approx. PLN 11 million. The students are going to receive a monthly scholarship for a maximum of ten months in the academic year 2020/2021. The sum of the scholarship depends on the type of studies and amounts to PLN 1250 in the case of first-cycle and uniform Master’s degree studies and PLN 1500 in the case of second-cycle studies.

In addition, following the decision of NAWA director, scholarship holders who study at public universities are exempt from education fees, as well.

Solidary with scientists and teachers

‘Solidary with Students’ is one of three measures carried out jointly by NAWA and the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Science under the government initiative ‘Solidary with Belarus.’ The remaining two measures are: ‘Solidary with Scientists’ (whose objective is to enable researchers from Belarusian universities and scientific institutions who hold the degree of PhD or higher to visit Polish higher education and scientific institutions) and ‘Solidary with Teachers’ (which involves the participation of 15 teachers from Belarus in the Postgraduate Qualification Studies in Teaching Polish Culture and Language as a Foreign Language at the University of Silesia).

Online course of Polish

‘Moreover, as part of the ‘Solidary with Belarus’ initiative, NAWA organised in October and November this year an online course of Polish for more than five hundred students from Belarus who are studying or planning to study in Poland and who are going to need to speak Polish at the university or at work,’ NAWA Director Dr. Grażyna Żebrowska adds.

In total, more than 1,100 persons have received support under the three measures. The budget for all measures amounts to approx. PLN 14 million.

Photo: ©andriano_cz.adobe.com.