Create Bright Futures - University Scholarships

What does it take to help a young person become the teacher their community needs?

A scholarship is an important first step. But becoming a teacher takes much more: choosing the profession, reaching university, completing a degree, gaining practical experience and finding a place in the education system. For young people from communities where access to higher education is not always easy, barriers at any point can bring that journey to a halt.

This is why, for the past ten years, our Teacher in My Community initiative has been built around a simple idea: if communities need education professionals they can trust in kindergartens and early learning settings, we need to support young people from those communities all the way to the profession.

From a scholarship to a profession

Since 2018, 119 participants have started this journey in teaching-related fields. The programme combines scholarships with academic support, mentoring, practical experience in kindergartens and schools, professional training and connections with future employers. The aim is to help young people not only graduate, but build lasting careers.

The results show why this broader approach matters. Twenty participants have completed their higher education, and 17 (85%) are already working in education. Sixteen work directly in kindergartens and schools, as teachers, speech and language therapists, resource teachers and other education specialists. Among graduates from the first two cohorts, the average time working in education is already more than four years - more than the average retention period for starting professionals in teaching.

Behind these numbers are young people such as Galya, who now works as an education mediator after completing her degree in Preschool and Primary School Education, Nadezhda, who works as an assistant educator in Gradets, and Nadya, a Social Work graduate who now works as a social worker at a community-based organisation. Their paths are different, but each shows what can happen when a young person is given both the opportunity and the support to turn education into a profession.

When the teacher comes from the community

When these professionals work in their own communities, the impact reaches further than employment. They understand the local context and the families they work with, helping to build trust between children, parents and educational institutions. For children, particularly in Roma communities, seeing someone from their own community become a teacher or other education professional can also make a future in education feel more possible.

It can take around five years from identifying a promising young person to seeing them enter the profession. That journey requires consistent support — and the belief that investing in one person's education can have an effect far beyond one diploma.

A scholarship opens the door to higher education. Making that investment count means supporting students throughout their studies — with mentoring, practical experience and guidance — so that the opportunity you have invested in can lead to a degree, a career and ultimately a professional who gives back to their community.

When we support young people from aspiration to profession, we are helping communities build their own teachers, specialists and role models. Thank you for being part of that journey.

Links:

• More about the impact assessment of "Teacher in My Community"