Scholarship Holders from the Slovene Raba Region – Promoters of the Development of the Slovene National Community in Hungary

Abstract

Based on an online survey conducted among scholarship holders from the Slovene Raba Region who studied at higher education institutions in Slovenia, interviews with representatives of minority organisations, professional literature and newspaper reports, the article analyses the role of this group of scholarship holders in the development of the Slovene national community in Hungary. The results confirm the initial assumption that scholarship holders are indeed the promoters of the development of their community. Likewise, the results provide information on the scholarship policy as well as on the efforts of Slovene minority structures to involve young people, including scholarship holders, in their activities. The data also show, among other things, that due to the economic underdevelopment of the border area, the Raba Region is not seen as a promising environment for young people, although the respondents would like it to be so.