[ad_1]
The funds of the foundation are exclusively my personal assets. We did not have endowments from the State, nor endowments from any other individual or external entity. Throughout my life, and in accordance with the needs of the foundation, these assignments will happen and will also measure the success of the programs. For example, ISA starts with five million euros and I hope, and trust, that it will be very successful. The program was launched last Friday and we already have a lot of applications – I think by the end of the day we will already have contracts with some students – and if it is really success we are thinking about we will expand it to graduate courses abroad, then possibly it Let’s extend to degrees. The dream is that in five, ten years from now we will have a generation of Portuguese who can say: “I managed to have the training I wanted to have, in the area I wanted and the postgraduate degree I needed thanks to this initiative and, with that, raise the level of skills and help the country ”.
In this ISA program, it is estimated that they will cover about 1,500 students. How are you going to choose these people? Are there exclusion factors?
Anyone can apply, as long as they are Portuguese and, since the courses are postgraduate courses, as long as the eligibility conditions for each of the courses are met. Regardless of the economic situation, the economic capacity of the parents. This is not a loan, there is no personal guarantee or anything like that, nothing like that. We don’t need to see anyone’s IRS sheet. Regardless of having a job or not, regardless of age, it is a program that is open to all Portuguese, provided they meet the academic eligibility conditions for these postgraduate courses.
Applications are evaluated by us and partner educational institutions. For those who are approved, we make full payment of tuition fees and there is a refund only if the person gets a job and that job is above a certain salary level. If it goes down, it doesn’t pay either. It is a bet that we make and we take risks because we believe in the potential and talent of the Portuguese and we believe that it is worth betting on continuous training. We want it to be as complete and simple as possible for people.
After an educational program and a data platform, what will happen next? Will the foundation act only in the educational field?
The mission of this foundation is to help make Portugal a knowledge society. Knowledge is essential for human happiness. We are curious, intelligent, cognitive beings, we learn all our lives, but knowledge is not only that of the outside world. We have sciences that study the outer world, such as Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Thermodynamics, Electrotechnical Engineering, digital, Computer Science, etc., but there are sciences that study the inner world, such as Psychology, Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience. . And this is very little known. We managed to get men to the moon, but we know very little about how human emotions work, what are the ingredients of happiness, what are the ingredients of a meaningful life.
This is essential for a balanced society. We see societies with extraordinary economic success – the United States is an example – but with very little balance in terms of values and from the human point of view. Unbalanced societies are societies that, from the point of view of human development, as a whole, have not achieved this balance. Sweden, again, returns as an example of this balance. And one of the pillars of the foundation, the fourth pillar, will also have programs related to knowing ourselves. I cannot reveal what they are yet, but over the next few months and years we will have activities in that area.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought several changes and has changed some paradigms. In the months of lockdown, Farfetch’s revenue soared 74%. At the time he said he never imagined the platform would be put to the test in a crisis like this. What has been the biggest challenge in recent times?
Sorry, but I’m not talking about Farfetch today.
