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United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development

University scholarship program: promoting professionalization and employability through a comprehensive approach and support of young Venezuelans in vulnerable situations

Beca a Un Pana (BAUP) (
Civil society organization
)
#SDGAction33731
    Description
    Intro

    In Venezuela, only 25% of young people have access to higher education and 40% are unable to complete it. The deterioration of public universities and the monthly tuition increases that exceed 120% in private ones, have considerably limited access to higher education and the performance of students. Scholarships have declined, and existing ones don't focus on recognizing meritocracy. For this reason, BAUP has designed a comprehensive model for awarding scholarships that guarantees academic success based on systematic monitoring and the selection of outstanding students according to their socioeconomic situation, academic performance, and participation in extracurricular activities.

    Implementation of the Project/Activity

    Faced with the complex educational crisis in the country, private universities are positioned as an alternative where academic excellence continues to be possible despite the constant tuition increases. Therefore, the universities selected were chosen because they maintain quality standards and guarantee greater opportunity for employability. Given the great demand for financial aid, we designed our own selection process conformed by several phases that integrate socioeconomic factors with academic performance and outstanding participation in activities, ensuring the selection of outstanding students and reducing desertion risks. In addition to financial support, the organization has developed a systematic support system in which it is possible to monitor academic requirements, provide training and complementary development spaces, the opportunity to connect scholarship recipients with psychological counseling, and identify possible dropout situations or decreased performance. We also have partnerships with the private sector, by developing an internship subscription program, serving as a bridge between their job offers and outstanding undergraduate students, promoting youth employability while generating income for the program. The constant follow-up of the scholarship recipients allows us to monitor their performance, ensuring that the organization's indicators are met. With the administrative processes, all payments are made directly to the universities, ensuring the transparency of the funds. These efforts make it possible to guarantee the highest academic completion rate, the monitoring of funds and, therefore, the optimization of invested resources.

    Results/Outputs/Impacts

    BAUP has graduated 30 professionals who today work in prestigious organizations and has connected more than 20 active interns with job opportunities in partner companies, promoting the employability of young people and their insertion into the workforce. Since 2017, BAUP has granted scholarships to 142 students in the best private universities, reaffirming its functionality with a dropout rate of 10.6%. Without this support, 79% of the scholarship recipients would not be able to complete their studies, impacting the availability of young professionals, access to decent employment and informal work. Selection techniques have been perfected to identify the best profiles and the follow-up has been customized considering the needs of the student and the reality of each city. In addition, due to its comprehensive approach, 63% of the students have increased their GPA and affirm that the follow-ups have mitigated the obstacles of the economic crisis and the challenges of university life.

    Enabling factors and constraints

    Autonomy and quality in private universities have been key. In addition, and although a significant number of potential investors prioritize issues of immediate assistance over education, the interest of companies in education finances a large part of the project. As the program was born from students to students, its design was adapted to real needs and despite the fact that at the beginning the selection criteria was diffuse and did not consider the differences between each type of scholarship, by migrating to a team of multidisciplinary professionals, objective and efficient criteria was standardized through a competency-based approach.

    Sustainability and replicability

    The dropout rate and the general academic average are the main indicators to validate the results. Due to the innovative selection process and assertive support system, it is possible to reduce desertion by up to 26% when compared to similar programs. Furthermore, the general average of the scholarship holders is 17.7/20 and the comprehensive approach allows 30% to be outstanding students in the social, cultural and sports areas. For its expansion, universities are evaluated confirming that they comply with quality standards. It is vital to know the administrative processes and the magnitude of applicants for economic cooperation, as well as the reality of the university and the community in general. The process has proven to be successful in allowing expansion to five universities in complex settings. It is recommended to focus the project in developing countries where access to higher education is complex, the demand for professionals is high and there is youth migration.

    Other sources of information

    Selection process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJT6mRYVtoM&feature=youtu.be Webinars to explain the selection process https://becaunpana.org/baup-organizo-encuentros-online-sobre-como-aplic… BAUP contribute to the country development by supporting dreams in the middle of the Venezuelan crisis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn6PgdB6Nls&feature=emb_title Testimonials of the impact BAUP makes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KUBHcK0ELU Instagram: @becaunpana

    COVID-19 Impact

    The selection of the beneficiaries is carried out with an in-person interview by competences, so it had to be adapted to virtualization. This represented a great challenge because at the national level, the internet is extremely intermittent, and despite this, the 60 interviews shortlisted out of the 200 applications received were carried out. Although the universities functioned in person, they migrated to the digital environment, making the adaptation of the students progressive and complex. For this reason, support channels were strengthened and the use of psychological services and complementary training in high-difficulty subjects were promoted as support alternatives. The use of the platforms was key to streamline processes and have direct contact with the scholarship holders.

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    Timeline
    11 June 2017 (start date)
    30 December 2025 (date of completion)
    Entity
    Beca A Un Pana
    Ongoing
    No
    SDGs
    1 4 8
    Other beneficiaries

    142 scholarship recipients from 6 private universities. The key stakeholders are the following universities: UCAT, UCAB, UNIMET, UMA, USM and URBE. Currently, there are 96 students with at least one approved academic period in college and outstanding comprehensive performance. 68% of the students’ families have an average income between $2 and $203 per month. In addition, private companies and NGOs are vital allies to maintain the model.

    More information
    Countries
    Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
    Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
    Contact Information

    Roberto , University scholarship program: promoting professionalization and employability through a comprehensive approach and support of young Venezuelans in vulnerable situations