What would it take to set up a scholarship prize?

September 28, 2009 7:33 AM

What would it take to set up a scholarship prize fund for a particular school in a developing country?

I was recently in Africa, where I visited a community school in Lesotho.

I learned that the cost of sending children on to high school there is prohibitively expensive for most kids' families (~US$60/yr). To me this is a small amount of money, so it got me wondering about the logistics of establishing a self-sustaining scholarship prize, or fund of some kind, to send, for example, the 5 brightest kids per year through school.

This is all just a vague idea at the moment, but what would be involved in setting up such a scheme?

I'd be interested in examples both from the developing world and from elsewhere.

It would all need to be self-sustaining and above-board legally-speaking, and run from the UK.

posted by jonesor to education (5 comments total)

If you wanted to undertake this on your own you'd need to establish a legal entity known as a trust.

This act would provide an entity to hold and disperse funds, as well as deal with governments (i.e. where funds are collected and where funds are dispersed). The trust would require a certain level of administrative support e.g., a trustee, as well as some services from associated professionals e.g, Solicitors, Tax Preparers, etc.

Having spent lots of time - years in fact off and on - working on the ground in Africa, I fully understand your feelings and commend you for thinking of the less fortunate.

Unless you're thinking of capitalising this (worthy) endeavour to the tune a hundred thousand pounds or more, you're probably better off working through an established charity. The self-sustaining component of your query could be achieved via your own investments, letting you donate annually.

I'm not shilling for these folks, but they are representative and there are others like them.

Suggest you contact a few until you find one that you're comfortable with in terms of mission statement and administrative burden, rather than try to setup your own charity.
posted by Mutant at 8:28 AM on September 28

Thanks Mutant.
Trusts! That all sounds like a lot of work, and a lot of money. It looks like I'll be letting other charity-type folk do the hard work for me.
posted by jonesor at 3:44 AM on September 29

It is good that you want to help, but sorting out the best method may be difficult. I am with Mutant in thinking that working through an established NGO would be easiest.

If you wish to help a particular school that is not currently receiving any aid, I doubt if a few full scholarships are the best way forward. They would make such a dramatic difference to the families that have them, with a wide gulf to the rest.

It is unlikely that the "brightest" kids would come from the most deprived homes, so you need to be clear in your own mind about who you want to benefit, and then devise a reasonably foolproof way of finding the right kids. School test results are likely to be influenced by family situation -- the poorest kids probably miss more days of school, and may be more physically tired when they are there, the already better-off kids may have more educated parente to help them. Asking a trusted local to choose between candidates means accepting their values (the church minister may rate church-going higher than you do) and being aware that local pressures may mean they have to include some relatives of local people of influence.

If, on the other hand, you just contribute to improving the whole school, you leave untouched so many kids who can't afford it at all. One possibility seems to me to be to pay the school teachers extra for running additional classes for the unenrolled -- maybe an hour or two at the end of the day, or a secular "Sunday School". That should help to retain good staff by giving them more money, and should reach kids who want more education. Of course, the extra kids are unlikely to pass a qualification, so the usefulness partly depends on how valuable the extra education is for its own sake.

It really is a great project that you plan. The difficulties to be overcome intrigue me. I would like to hear more about it.
posted by Idcoytco at 3:49 AM on September 29

Sorry, had previewed, but not recently enough. Yes, going with an existing outfit makes a lot of sense. I hope you find a suitable one, and can maybe help shape their actions.
posted by Idcoytco at 10:50 AM on September 29

Just saw this about a kid who couldn't afford school in Malawi.
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/09/the_boy_who_harnessed_the_wind_--_f.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
posted by Idcoytco at 11:21 AM on September 29