REF seeks a Consultant(s) for the preparation of a study on the impact of the RMUSP tertiary scholarship programme
Terms of Reference for Consultancy
The Impact of RMUSP tertiary scholarship scheme on Roma education
Background:
The Roma Memorial University Scholarship Programme (RMUSP) was established in 2001 under the Open Society Institute (OSI) New York and administered from OSI Budapest office. Since 2008, RMUSP has been fully operated by the Roma Education Fund (REF) Scholarships Programme (REF/SP) team. REF/SP is assisted in administration of the Scholarship Programme by a network of Coordinators in the largest Programme countries. In the 2010/11 academic year the RMUSP is administering its 11th cycle.
The main goal of the RMUSP Programme is to contribute to the integration of Roma minorities in tertiary education. RMUSP operates in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, and Turkey. RMUSP provides support through annual scholarships to Roma students, in order to enable them to pursue tertiary level education in Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD Programmes. Between 2001 and 2010 more than 7.600 scholarships were granted, covering tuition fees and providing study stipends. Along with the Scholarships, the selected beneficiaries have had access to additional funds to participate in extra-curricular activities. Moreover, graduates of the RMUSP programme had access to other REF scholarship schemes designed to assist them in their further academic and professional endeavours.
Main goal and tasks for the consultancy study:
As RMUSP has been running for the last 10 academic years, REF seeks to evaluate the degree to which the programme succeeded in its goal to contribute to the growth of Roma student body and to the integration of Roma minorities in tertiary education. Also, given that the academic environments in each country and local governmental strategies in addressing Roma issues have changed over time, REF seeks to understand how the RMUSP programme can be fine-tuned to the existing country academic developments and trends, to attain more efficiently its general mission.
