The Education and Science Ministry informed on Tuesday that it will begin a new program to give scholarships to 30 ethnic Roma students, enrolled in the 2015/2016 student year. Interested students can apply by 11 February.

The scholarships will amount to 5.000 denars (about 80 EUR) per month. Ten of them will be given to students in the first year of studies, and 20 are meant for higher level students. Deputy Education Minister Spiro Ristovski said that the program is being introduced following the positive results related to an older program to support Roma high school students.

"The Education Ministry, in cooperation with the Roma Education Fund, has worked in the past years to advance the scholarship system that is in place for Roma students, to help them during their high school studies, but also during the higher level education. The goal is to use this financial stimulus to help young Roma students to achieve a higher level in education and better integrate themselves in the society", Ristovski said. The Roma community in Macedonia has one of the highest drop-out rates in the country, and, as a result, continues to suffer from high unemployment rates and difficulties reaching better paying jobs.

Advantage will be given to students that will go on into teaching, given the lack of qualified teachers who can work in the Roma language. Recep Ali Cupi, director of the Bureau for community education, said that the new program is part of the National Roma strategy and the Action plan to advance the education.

"The budget for the initial 30 scholarships is provided. We expect to increase their number in the future. The high school scholarship program has helped bring the number of high school graduates who continue their education to 40 percent of the total number of enrolled students. Now, they will be able to find additional scholarships as they continue into higher levels of education", Cupi said.

A total of 4.000 Roma students have received a scholarship during their high-school education. Each year about 600 scholarships are issued. Cupi said that this has dramatically improved the participation of Roma students in the education system. If in 1997 only a token number of few Roma enrolled in the universities, the number has grown to 300 each year.