The Great Moment for Education

“The Great Moment for Education”,
a new programme of sponsorships from EurobankEFG Eurobank Ergasias announced today an important initiative in favour of Education: a programme of sponsorships aimed at providing support and encouragement to the young generation’s efforts to realize its high goals. Thanks to this initiative, the banking group will further strengthen its presence in the social life of the country. The new programme of sponsorships “The Great Moment for Education”, which will be launched this year, will further bolster the already significant role of the Eurobank Group as a sponsor of Education, and other important areas, such as Culture and Sports. The programme was presented today at a special event, which started with an opening speech by the Minister of Education Mr. Petros Efthymiou. Minister Efthymiou congratulated the Bank for its generous initiative, assuring it that the Ministry would provide all possible assistance to help it achieve the goals of the programme. The event was attended by Members of Parliament Mr. Georgios Kalos and Mr. Manolis Kefalogiannis, Member of the Athens Academy Professor Konstantinos Despotopoulos, the rector Mr. Georgios Venieris, senior officials of teachers’ trade unions and executives of EFG Eurobank Ergasias. “Our social contribution must not be allowed to lag behind our organization’s development,staying in line with the human-centered character and the values of the Bank and its shareholders”, emphasized EFG Eurobank Ergasias’ Chief Executive Officer Mr. Nicholas Nanopoulos. In analysing the details of the programme for Education, Mr. Nanopoulos pointed out that “Education today is a great challenge for our youth, as well as the necessary means for our country to conquer the position it deserves on the constantly widening globalised economic stage. Through the initiative that we are announcing today, we hope to encourage the young generation of Greeks to acquire more knowledge and learning as well as encourage them for distinction in the field of Education, which will become their most important assets for their future progress”.The new programme of sponsorships “The Great Moment for Education” embraces the whole of Greece and concerns more than 230,000 pupils who attend the final year of Senior High School. Every year Eurobank will award a prize to the pupil who obtains the highest marks in the general Greek examinations in each one of the approximately 1,300 Senior High Schools in Greece, public and private, morning and evening schools. In addition, the Bank will celebrate the best students’ progress and personal success at special prize-giving ceremonies. Each award will carry with it a symbolic gift of 1,000 euro. The prize-awarding ceremonies for the year 2003 will be held in every one of the country’s regions or prefectures, while the best-of-the-best will be rewarded at a special event to be held in Athens in November. Mr. Nanopoulos briefly reviewed the Bank’s sponsorship policy and highlighted the steady and consistent support given by the Bank to Education, Culture and Sports. The support lent by Eurobank to the work of the Foundation for Greater Hellenism and, in particular, the exclusive sponsorship of the electronic website “Greek History on the Internet”, on the one hand, and the programme of sponsorships to Higher Education students on the other, also fall within the wider field of Education. The Bank’s activity in this area also includes the assiduous implementation of in-company further education programmes for its staff. It is noteworthy that more than 50 percent of the Bank’s employees hold higher-education degrees, while 7 percent are holders of postgraduate or doctoral degrees. Activities also include the creation of a special postgraduate studies programme in finance, in cooperation with the ALBA education centre, which is mainly financed by the Bank. In the field of Culture, the Bank has cultivated long-standing cooperation agreements leading to the exclusive sponsorship of “Camerata-Orchestra of Friends of Music” and the “Children’s Den -Theatre Katina Paxinou” of the National Theatre. Other initiatives include the high-quality publications “The Museum of Elefsina”, “The Archaeological Museum of Piraeus” and “100 Years of National Theatre”, all of which serve to highlight our cultural heritage. Furthermore, in a reflection of the vivid interest in Greek sports in view of the Olympic Games of 2004, EFG Eurobank Ergasias Group supports the efforts and preparation of many Greek athletes as well as the country’s nine national basketball teams.
“Our contribution is multi-faceted and important”, emphasized Mr. Nanopoulos, pointing out that the associated outlays correspond to 2 percent of net earnings on an annual basis, while in the last three years Eurobank’s social contribution amounted to approximately 10 million euro.