Fundación Jesús Serra creates a scholarship with the collaboration of the El Pont de Vilomara i Rocafort City Council

"The collaboration of the entities involves the creation of the "Fundación Jesús Serra Scholarship," which seeks to support students living in the birthplace of the founder of Grupo Catalana Occidente, Jesús Serra y Santamans, who is also a beloved child of the town. "

Fundación Jesús Serra, from Grupo Catalana Occidente, has signed an agreement with the City of El Pont de Vilomara i Rocafort to create the "Fundación Jesús Serra Scholarship," a grant that will be given to four local students to finance 90% of fees of their university degree. In addition to the four initial awardees, two additional students will be added each year up to eight, to complete the scholarship programme. 

The main aim of the collaboration is to offer talented, high-achieving young people the possibility of access to higher education. The grant will cover 90% of tuition, in line with the public prices set by the corresponding department of the Catalonia Government. 

The agreement was signed at El Pont de Vilomara i Rocafort town hall and was attended by the town's mayor, Enric Campàs, and the director of Fundación Jesús Serra, Ignacio Gallardo-Bravo. During the event, both highlighted the importance of promoting education and offering students the opportunity to start their academic development. The scholarships are named after the founder of Grupo Catalana Occidente, Jesús Serra y Santamans, who was renowned for his humanitarian spirit and the intense social work that he always included in his career, giving great value to education and to preserving the principle of equal opportunities for all people.

In that spirit, Gallardo-Bravo commented that "academic training is essential and one of the levers of transformation to face a global environment of constant change. For Fundación Jesús Serra, offering equal opportunities to receive quality education is one of our pillars and raison d'être".

Meanwhile, the mayor of El Pont de Vilomara i Rocafort, Enric Campàs, remarked that "We are very proud to be able to start this project that we have been working on for a long time and which aims to recognise the talent and effort of our young people, helping them to manage the high cost of a university education. " He added, "We are very grateful for the enthusiasm to collaborate that the Foundation of our famous resident, Jesús Serra, has always shown."

In addition to these scholarships, starting from the 2021/22 academic year, to recognise their academic achievement, the agreement will also include a stay in an English-speaking country for the top two academic achievers of those completing the Compulsory Secondary Education stage. This added bonus was not possible this year because of the pandemic we are experiencing, but will start to run from the summer of 2022.

Terms and conditions of the "Jesús Serra Santamans Scholarship" programme

The requirements to be eligible for the scholarships are:

• To have been a registered resident of Pont de Vilomara i Rocafort for at least three years.
• To comply with the requirements to start university studies on 31 July 2021, or to be a current student in a university degree programme.
• To not have obtained any university degree previously.
• To not be over 25 years old.
• To provide evidence of the following academic record: 
  • For new university students, at least 7, weighted out of 10, as a final grade for Baccalaureate (60%) and university access exam (selectividad) (40%). 
  • For current university students, the academic record of the previous year must be provided, with all enrolled subjects passed and with an average grade of 7.

Students interested in receiving the Fundación Jesús Serra scholarship must go to the El Pont de Vilomara i Rocafort town hall and submit the required documentation before 15 July 2021.

For more information on the conditions, please visit the town's website (www.elpont.cat/bequesuniversitat).