On October 8, President Petr Pavel and Mrs. Eva Pavlová received 40 scholarship recipients of the Education Fund, which is celebrating 30 years since its foundation this year, at Prague Castle.
The official reception of the students of the scholarship program of the Committee of Good Will – Olga Havelová Foundation took place in the Social Hall. Siblings Antonín, Anežka, Klára and František Koneční, scholarship recipients of the program, played Prelude from Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Te Deum to the presidential couple.
In his greeting, President Petr Pavel highlighted education as a joint priority of the Pavlov couple and described it as the best investment that can be made. According to him, programs like the Education Fund can help people who do not have the same conditions to make such an investment due to health, social or even geographical disadvantage. ” Just the absence of schools in remote regions can be a form of disadvantage ,” the president explained. He then thanked the scholarship holders for their work and wished them success in the coming years.
Petr Pavel and Eva Pavlova were greeted by Vojtěch Sedláček, chairman of its board of directors, and Monika Granja, director, on behalf of the Committee of Good Will – Olga Havel Foundation. Barbora Antonovičová, Supreme Court lawyer and UN Young Delegate in 2018/2019, spoke on behalf of all current and former students supported by the program. According to her, the financial support enabled and simplified the education of the scholarship recipients at secondary or university level, but also helped them in their personal development. ” We perceive quality education as a very important basis for subsequently obtaining appropriate employment, through which we can then further contribute to the development of society and thus return that support, ” said the young woman in her speech.
After presenting gifts to the Pavlov couple – flowers and calendars for the year 2025 with illustrations by Olga Havlova from Adély Marie Jirků – all the participants of the meeting sang the song One day we will continue to the president of the republic and the first lady, accompanied by the Konečný siblings.
The informal part of the meeting of the presidential couple with students, as well as with partners and supporters of the Education Fund, took place in the Music Hall without the participation of the media.
The exceptional program ended with a guided tour of the representative premises of Prague Castle, which are normally inaccessible to the public and are only opened to them on special occasions.
The education fund celebrates 30 years this year. Since its establishment, 1,339 students have received regular support or a one-off contribution for school fees or study aids, in a total amount of more than 42 million crowns. ČSOB is a partner of the Education Fund.
Photo By Eva Šolcová