High Start with Postbank CSR Program received one more high recognition. It was selected among the three best projects in the “Investor in Education” category of the annual Responsible Business Awards of the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum (BBLF). The award was handed by Mr. Sergei Ignatov, Minister of Education, Youth and Science at an official ceremony.
„When we started the program 7 years ago, our aim was to encourage the future leaders of Bulgaria and to show them that that hard work pays off. We are happy that we provide opportunity for students to participate in the reforms of the education as well as to be active part of the discussion of the country’s most important issues”, Mr. Anthony Hassiotis, CEO of Postbank, said. „We are proud that our efforts and consistency in supporting the Bulgarian education are highly recognized and we are committed to investing further in the program in the coming years despite of the hard economic environment”.
Postbank was the first company in Bulgaria to launch a project in support of the Bulgarian high school education in 2005. In the first 5 years the program awarded a hundred 8th grade students from language schools and classes all over the country, ranked with the highest grades at the external evaluation exam of the Ministry of Education . „High start” has a new format as of 2010 when the students competed in an essay contest on the topic “Chase boredom away from school”. The best essays were published in the first Bulgarian textbook written by students and handed to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science. The 7th edition of the competition was launched in November 2011 and the students were invited to take part in the discussions of the future of Bulgaria and express their opinion on issues by writing essays on the topic „My High Start for Bulgaria begins with…”. The initiative will end in March 2012 with the creation of the first Youth Road Map for Development of Bulgaria, which will include solutions for the country’s development.
Partners of the High Start with Postbank Program are the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science, the Bulgarian Donors Forum, Paidea Foundation, the National Network for Children, the Parents Association, Manager magazine and Vesti.bg.
In 2011 the High Start Program received the Best Donors Campaign award of the Bulgarian Donors Forum, a silver medal in the category „CSR Program in Europe” of the prestigious international business Steve Awards and was selected among the finalists in the category „Campaign in the field of education” of the international SABRE competition. Postbank has invested a total of BGN 105 000 in the new format of the program in the period 2010-2011.
