Maria Peters Scholarship

On 17 November 2019 Java Village, encouraged and supported by the Peters family, founded the Maria Peters Scholarship, in commemoration of Maria Peters, who unexpectedly passed away in 2016, following complications from a pulmonary embolism. Many knew Maria as a committed internist with a generous heart for people in need, and also as a dear and dedicated Friend of Java Village. In honour of her, her family took the initiative, together with Java Village, to found this special grant for excellent students.

The goal of the Maria Peters Scholarship is, building on Java Village’s Sponsor a Student (SaS) project, to enable village students to continue their education at junior high school (SMP), followed by high school (SMA) or vocational education (SMK).

Background

Every year the Java Village SaS project allows ten students to attend junior high school with financial support from sponsors. These students are all very motivated, and have completed primary school with good results, but their families are unable to support the cost of their education. School fees are paid by the government for the first nine years of education (six years primary school, three years junior high school). The SaS project covers additional costs, for instance transportation costs to the secondary school, which is not in the village. These daily costs are a heavy burden for the families.

School fees for senior high school are not covered by the government, as only the first nine years of school are compulsory in Indonesia. It is important for their future prospects that the students can also complete the last three years (classes 10, 11 and 12) of their secondary education. After their SMP they can actually only find jobs at a factory or in horticulture. With an SMA/SMK diploma they can go to a university or follow a specialised vocational study. With support from the Maria Peters Scholarship, students will have much better career perspectives.

Organisation

The Maria Peters Scholarship supports excellent pupils with most (80%) of the costs (around 2100 euro), starting with the first three years of their secondary education. In their second year (class 8), on the basis of their school results, some students can be promised a grant for the last three years of their secondary education. The selection will be done in class 8 because the second year will give a better idea of the pupils’ capacities than when they have just started their secondary education. We believe that for 13 and 14 year old girls in particular, a promise of a grant to be able to continue their school education can be highly motivating. It could provide an extra incentive for these girls, as leaving school to help at home or marry young is one of the main reasons for school dropout.

The number of students that will receive a Maria Peters Scholarship is dependent on their achievements and motivation, and on the financial resources of the school grant in the name of Maria Peters.

Amount of the Maria Peters Scholarship per pupil

The amount of the scholarship for the first three years (SMP) of secondary education is €450 and €1650 for the final three years. In total €2100 per pupil.

The amount covers the following costs:

Donate

Donations to support this new student scholarship are very welcome. Your donations will be deductible from your income tax in the Netherlands because the Foundation is recognised by the Dutch government as an ANBI (Public Benefit Institution).

You can transfer your donation to bank account: NL71 ABNA 0409 2107 57 (BIC code: ABNANL2A), attn. Stichting Java Village, Leiden. Please mention Maria Peters Scholarship, your name and e-mail address.

Contact person in the Netherlands is Sonja Abrahams (treasurer of Java Village) via bestuur@javavillage.org.

Contact person in Indonesia is Titi Setiawati (fieldworker and authorized representative of Java Village) via info@javavillage.org