Eva and Niilo Pakkala fund offers generous annual scholarships to Karkku alumni

Former pupils of the tiny Karkku school in Sastamala can receive sizeable scholarships for post-basic studies — sometimes every year — thanks to the Eva and Niilo Pakkala fund. YLE reports that the fund, administered by the city of Sastamala, awards grants to students who attended Karkku school for at least four years.

Individual awards this spring ranged from €1,000 to more than €4,000. In total, 83 students received support in the fund's 60th distribution. Recipients include former pupil Iina Honkakoski, who has received about €25,000 for studies after basic education and is now training as a social worker at Lapland University of Applied Sciences, and doctoral candidate Sonja Tiitola, who said the grant will help her research and attend an international conference.

Pastor Anu Jokinen-Lundén, chair of the fund's board, says the testamentary assets were invested broadly in stocks and funds and have performed well. That has allowed the board to award larger sums than before while keeping the fund solvent. Committee rules require that studies progress at a normal pace, but the board can also consider human reasons for delays.

Karkku remains a small but active village school of roughly 60 pupils. Principal Markus Peltonen said families know about the scholarship, but it has not prompted widespread school-hopping.