BRAMA, January 20, 2000, 11:30am EST

The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Youth Programs Division, of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open competition for the NIS Secondary School Partnership Program. Public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in IRS regulation 26 CFR 1.501(c) may submit proposals to either enhance or expand existing partnerships or develop new school partnership programs with Russia or Ukraine. All proposals must have a thematic focus and feature on-going joint project activity between the schools, a student exchange component, and an educator (teacher/administrator) exchange component. The maximum grant award will be $150,000.

The Secondary School Partnership Program is funded under the Freedom Support Act to assist young people in building an open society and developing democratic processes and institutions in the New Independent States (NIS). This program provides grants to link schools in the three countries noted above with schools in the United States. The U.S. recipient of the grant is responsible for recruiting, selecting, and organizing a U.S. network of a minimum of two secondary schools; strengthening an existing working relationship with an organization or agency of government in the NIS responsible for a network of at least two schools there; and linking the two networks in one-to-one school partnerships through thematic projects and substantive exchange activities.

Grants may begin on or about July 15, 2001, and cover the 2001-2002 academic year. The exact starting date of the grant will be dependent on availability of funds.

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: All proposal copies must be received at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs by 5:00 p.m. Washington, D.C. time on Friday, February 9, 2001. Faxed documents will not be accepted at any time. Documents postmarked the due date but received on a later date will not be accepted. Each applicant must ensure that the proposals are received by the above deadline.

Proposal package, guidelines and further information:
http://exchanges.state.gov/education/rfgps/feb9rfgp.htm
Solicitation Packages may be downloaded from the website.

Project objectives, goals, and implementation (POGI)
http://exchanges.state.gov/education/rfgps/feb9pog.htm

Other grant proposals are published on the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs website.

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