Many secondary school students recently finished doing their baccalaureat exams. Among them are students with much to gain, and at the same time, much to lose if they do not meet certain standards. These are the Fondation Euris scholarship applicants. If they attained 16 or more marks-out of 20, they may be lucky to be shortlisted in the list of the 20 benefactors of a 24 months higher education scholarship granted by the organization’s Executive Committee.
The foundation was established by Jean-Charles Naouri in 2000. Mr. Naouri is the CEO and Chairman of Groupe Casino and Euris, one of the top-grossing French retail groups. The group’s famous brands include Franprix, Monoprix, Cdiscount or Geant Casino. Fondation Euris has pledged to financially support deserving students who come from underprivileged backgrounds. Many applicants mostly come from sensitive urban zones. The foundation not only supports the laureates financially, but it also creates a performance monitoring and support program for them.
Jean-Charles Naouri’s commitment is mainly driven by the fact that the French social ladder system has failed. A third of the students from France are senior executive’s children, only one out of ten has working-class parents. Normally, working class people who are young rarely get the chance to pursue courses in doctoral and masters programs. With regard to numbers, children of executives are 40 percent fewer than children of the working-class society, yet the number of the students at higher education institutions are three times more.
The entry barrier continues to consolidate as years go by. The culture seems to be that the working-class have less representation at higher studies institutions. The courses or schools where this trend is notably high include engineering and business schools. Statistics show that the executive’s children are eight times more than the working-class children in these schools.
Unlike what many believe, the situations in universities is not better. The number of French students from humble backgrounds continues to decrease as they progress with their university curriculum. The National Education Ministry has failed to find the solution to this problem. Jean-Charles Naouri noted this and decided to act upon the situation by offering educational scholarships whose core principle is academic excellence. The selection is usually made in August after the results of the baccalaureat come out. The committee that makes the selection is made up of leaders from the education, civil society, and business worlds. The scholarship is awarded based on financial need, excellence, motivation, and ambition.
Jean-Charles Naouri‘s academic journey has been long and challenging. He hopes to promote values of excellence, equal opportunities and merit by awarding these scholarships. Mr. Naouri’s outstanding career began in the public administration sector, at the department of finance. He went on to serve as the private secretary to the Local Government and Economic Affairs and Finance Ministers. This positions enabled him to make reforms which aimed to change and modernize France’s financial system.
Mr.Naouri went ahead to invest in various sectors which saw him establish the Euris company in 1987. His prowess in steering his company to success is evident; numbers don’t lie. His development of the group included taking bold steps like acquisitions and international expansions in different regions like Latin America. Looking back and reflecting on his academic journey and professional achievements, Jean-Charles Naouri decided to give back to those who are driven by the same hunger for success.
For more details about the Jean-Charles Naouri’s Fondation Euris 2018 Scholarships, refer the source.
