In 2010, New Moon Foundation partnered with VietHope (www.viethope.org) to support 100 students in grades 10-12 who meet New Moon’s core values, under the VietHope/New Moon Foundation Merit Scholarship Program (MSP).
VietHope is a non-profit organization, founded by students in the Boston area in 2002. VietHope believes the future development of Vietnam lies in its human capital. Hence, VietHope is focused on developing Vietnam’s youth by providing educational opportunities. In order to achieve VietHope’s mission, the organization is focused on:
Providing access to education to high performing yet financially disadvantaged students in Vietnam.
Building a network of volunteers in Vietnam and the US who share the VietHope vision and commitment.
Developing a network of students and professionals who share the belief of youth development and community service.
THE VIETHOPE/NEW MOON FOUNDATION MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM (MSP)
Introduction of MSP
Primary and secondary school had traditionally been free in Vietnam, but recent reforms have imposed fees and other charges that families must contribute at all levels of education. Families nowadays face several forms of direct and indirect costs: monthly tuition, additional tutoring fees, school maintenance fees, textbooks, and school uniforms. These new reforms have significantly affected families in rural areas, many of whom can no longer afford to send their children to school.
Program Objective
Provide scholarship awards to secondary school children (grades 6-12), valued at $120 USD/scholarship/year in poor rural villages in Vietnam who exhibit financial need, display academic merit, and have the will to succeed. Level II and Level III are considered secondary school. Level II school is from grades 6 to 9. Level III school is from grades 10 to 12.
Criteria To Evaluate Scholarship Applications
VietHope’s Criteria to evaluate scholarship applications:
Financial Need: Limited family income and/or insufficient funds to cover most or all educational-related expenses. VietHope evaluation of financial support considers reported family income and factors such as siblings, extraordinary family medical expenses, number of siblings in college, and the cost of living in some areas.
Academic Achievement: Strong academic record (GPA above 7.5), academic awards and honors, and substantive assessment by recommender. Enrollment: Student is currently enrolled full-time at an accredited secondary school
Will to succeed: Determination and perseverance in the face of challenges, and success in other pursuits.
Exhibit community-oriented mindset
New Moon’s Criteria to evaluate scholarship applications:
Gratitude
Respect
Accountability
Courage
Engagement
Responsibilities of Each Party
VietHope:
Update VietHope Merit application to include an essay question that will assess New Moon’s Core Values.
Update renewal application to include essay question that will ask for the practice of New Moon’s Core Values in their daily activities.
Select qualified students from existing database of Merit Scholarship recipients who have not been matched to sponsors and are currently in Level III school and exhibit VietHope Merit and New Moon criteria.
Select qualified new students from Level III school who exhibit VietHope Merit and New Moon criteria. Provide information of selected students to New Moon Foundation.
Provide annual updates of selected students’ progress report to New Moon Foundation in the form of thank you letter and statements from the reevaluation application that highlight how students understand and practice New Moon’s Core Values.
Whenever possible, provide email addresses of students to New Moon Foundation so that New Moon Foundation can have direct communication with students for mentoring purpose.
New Moon Foundation:
Intend to commit to support the 100 selected students in Level III school who exhibit New Moon’s Core Values with the understanding that the annual scholarship for each selected student is US$120 and the entire $120 will be distributed to the student over two distribution sessions (Fall and Spring of the academic year in the amount of $60 each).