Santander and IE Foundation create fund for 15,500 digital scholarships for teachers, university students and young professionals
Madrid: Banco Santander, through Santander Universities and Fundación IE, the foundation run by IE University, have launched the Santander IE Education Aid Fund, which will benefit 15,500 teachers, university students and young professionals around the world. Scholarship students will receive online specialized training in digital transformation and develop key skills to face the new world during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
This scholarship fund reflects the commitment of Banco Santander and the IE Foundation to society and their support for education. Thanks to this agreement, 10,000 teachers from around the world will benefit from the Santander IE Online Specialization in Digital Education for Teachers. These are online courses to strengthen their knowledge and ability to ensure continued academic activity in colleges and universities.
In addition, a further 5,500 Santander Scholarships for university students and young professionals from 14 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and the United States)
On the one hand, 5,000 young people aged between 20 and 35 will be able to develop their digital and leadership skills through the Santander IE Online Scholarships in Digital Strategy, Technology and Leadership for students.
Finally, 500 candidates will be able to take HIOPs (High Impact Online Programs) on digital transformation with the Santander IE High Impact Online Program Learning Scholarships.
These scholarships can be applied for from today at: Becas Santander (see program-specific dates).
Javier López, Global Director of Social Impact at Santander Universities, explains: “We do not know what the post-COVID19 education and labor market environment will be like, but what is foreseeable is that digital skills will be more decisive. With this initiative we want our teachers to be better prepared to develop their learning skills, in face-to-face as well as digital environments and for young people to take better advantage of online training resources and acquire the necessary skills to successfully face a professional future that will be increasingly digitized.”
Geoffroy Gérard, Director General of the IE Foundation, adds: “As an institution linked to education, it is our duty to help teachers around the world—who are essential to continuing educational activity at this time—as well as young people affected by the health emergency with programs that allow them to accelerate their training and skills in digital transformation.” All scholarship students will receive training in English and Spanish, taught by the faculty at IE University.
Recipients of the 10,000 teacher scholarships and 5,000 college scholarships will participate in an Online Learning Journey, a program designed by IE University experts that offers different levels of expertise through interactive tutorials, videos, interviews, podcasts, etc.
Students selected for the 500 High Impact Digital Transformation Program scholarships will undertake a five-week course, in English or Spanish, in areas such as new technologies for business, digital marketing, leadership in times of uncertainty or data science and visualization, delivered by the best teachers in these areas.
Santander Universities has a presence and activities in 23 countries, which allows it to expand the impact of this initiative worldwide. IE University, meanwhile, has 20 years of experience in online training and was a pioneer in Europe two decades ago when it launched the first blended masters. It is placed 2nd in the world in the Financial Times Online MBA 2020 ranking, a position that reflects the quality of its training programs. The two institutions have set up this scholarship program in record time to respond to the health emergency.