In addition to the Sumba Foundation’s support of primary school education, we also help students continue to further their education. We reward the best students by providing scholarships.
We sponsor students through our high school scholarship and college scholarship programs. Those that qualify for the scholarships and complete higher education come back home to Sumba to help their people by working with us in our clinics and schools.
We’ve also been assisting students interested in pursuing nursing. So far, we have helped 25 young adults attain a nursing education and currently have 16 in our scholarship program.
There are two senior nursing schools on the Sumba island and each take around 80 students per year. Of these 160 students, we offer scholarships to as many bright and needy students we have donors for. In 2017 we were fortunate to have donations for 14 new students. The selection process for scholarships is highly competitive and only bright students from very limited means are selected. The senior nursing education takes 3 years and will qualify them for employment at clinics and hospitals all over Sumba.
We also support senior nurses to further advance their education and gain a bachelor degree at universities in Bali or Java. This is a two-and-a-half year university degree, on top of the main nursing degree, and it includes extensive theoretical and practical education at hospitals in Bali or Java. This degree is slightly more expensive than the senior nursing degree because of the higher fees and added travel expenses.
We also provide scholarships for children to attend hotel training schools so they can find employment with our partner resort, Nihi Sumba.
