Mercator scholarships for school students
With the support of Stiftung Mercator and the American Field Service (AFS), over 600 school students aged between 15 and 18 from Germany and Switzerland have received a scholarship since the cooperation was launched in 1999, enabling them to spend a year in Asia or, since 2008, in Turkey. In 2009, a total of 29 students from nine of Germany’s federal states were given the opportunity through a Mercator scholarship to spend a year in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia or Turkey.
Structure and organization
The school students stay in a host family while abroad and attend secondary school; this means that they not only get to know a foreign culture, but almost automatically learn the language of the country, making new friends on the other side of the world. In return, the Foundation has so far made it possible for around 250 Asian school students of the same age to spend a year in Germany or Switzerland. In addition, Stiftung Mercator and the AFS have jointly set up a German-Turkish school exchange programme. Thanks to the support of the Foundation, a partial scholarship can be provided to ten students per year who would otherwise not be able to participate in an exchange for financial reasons. Youngsters from Turkey – mainly from the eastern part of the country – thus now have the chance for the first time to spend a year living with a German host family through the Mercator scholarship.
Any student who is currently in or has just completed year 10 and is interested in taking part in this special exchange programme can apply directly to the AFS which runs the scholarship programme on behalf of Stiftung Mercator, undertakes the selection process, prepares the participants intensively for their stay abroad and is on hand to assist them locally during the year. Established more than 50 years ago, the American Field Service is one of the world’s largest exchange organizations for school students, with activities in over 60 countries. A staff of more than 100,000 volunteers provides worldwide support for the approximately 60,000 school students who take part in AFS programmes each year.
Objectives
The partial scholarships are designed to support young people who would otherwise not be able to spend a school year abroad. The objective of the Stiftung Mercator scholarship is to promote language, social and intercultural skills in young people and to open up new perspectives for their later lives.