More than 150,000 families have applied for the National Education Ministry's private school scholarships in the first five days of the application period. The fund, which was first introduced last year for successful but economically disadvantaged students, attracted students from 5,505 private schools. The fund will provide partial scholarships to 230,000 students, who need to apply by Sept. 2 to qualify. While 180,000 students had applied for 250,000 scholarships last year, this year's numbers are expected to exceed the number of scholarships. The ministry will distribute TL 2,680 ($946) to 20,000 preschoolers, TL 3,220 to 50,000 primary school students and TL 3,730 to 160,000 high school students. The fund paid more than TL 500,000 to private schools last year.