A well-deserved recognition.
The Soljačić Award and the special prizes of the Ministry of Science and Education were presented to high school students who have achieved best results in final exams this summer. The ceremony was held on Friday and was attended by the founder of the award Marin Soljačić, Education Minister Blaženka Divjak and family members of the award winners, reports Index.hr on 22 July 2017.
The Soljačić Award, in the amount of USD5,000, was won by Petar Suman from the Lucijan Vranjanin High School in Zagreb, who has achieved the best score in maths, physics and Croatian language exams at the higher (A) level.
''Croatia has a lot of talented people. I would like to congratulate students and invite wealthy Croatian benefactors to support similar awards and talented students'', said Soljačić, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Ministry awarded 5,000 kunas and a special recognition to Karlo Valentin Cihlar, who also scored 100 percent in maths and physics exams, but wrote the Croatian language exam at the basic (B) level.
For extraordinary results in exams of the Croatian language, math, and compulsory foreign language at the higher A level, the Ministry of Science and Education awarded 20 students with the sum of 2,500 kunas and a special recognition for the outstanding result at the final exams in the school year 2016/2017.
Education Minister Blaženka Divjak congratulated the students and thanked Soljačić and all mentors and teachers who helped the students, and invited other benefactors to help fund similar awards. She called on all who support honest science, education and excellence to join this goal and said that the Ministry was on their side.
We can be proud of our students, who have achieved excellent results. It is another issue whether we have motivated everybody who should have been motivated and whether we have given equal opportunities to everybody, the Minister said and added that the number of scholarships awarded by the Ministry this year had doubled compared to the last year. This year, the Ministry spent 55,000 kunas on cash prizes. In addition to the awards, the Ministry also offers money for scholarships. This year, we will give 3,400 new scholarships in the STEM area, as well as 10,000 scholarships for students with lower socioeconomic status, she said.
The awards were given to: Mislav Mokos, Hana Ivandić, Lovro Hrvoić, Filip Svalina, Petar Suman, Marin Knežević, Marina Dasović, Katarina Bilić, Petar Okanović and Sara Anđela Perić from Zagreb; Nina Drobac, Frane Žilić and Tom Sikora from Split; Ivan Tečer and Igor Kladarić from Slavonski Brod; Timon Spiegel from Krapina; Valentina Meglić from Zabok; Marija Batur from Zadar; Petra Strmečki from Osijek; and Lucija Relić from Virovitica.
Student Timon Spiegel from the Krapina High School spoke on behalf of the award-winners. He expressed his satisfaction with the state had recognised their success and expressed hope that it would continue to support excellence in the future and that such values would be appreciated by the whole society.
Mislav Mokos from the Fifth High School in Zagreb said that the good marks were the result of his previous education, as well as of more intensive preparations during the fourth grade of the high school. I would like to thank my professors because they have helped me achieve excellent results, he said, adding that he saw the recognition as an affirmation of his work and expressed his hope that his studies at the Zagreb School of Medicine would also be a positive life experience.
Translated from Index.hr.
