A total of 50 top black grade 12 learners from all across South Africa will receive the highest honours when they are awarded Siyandisa Foundation Scholarships on the 5th of April this year.
Already in its third year, this unique scholarship programme seeks out top performing black grade 12 learners from low-income households all over the country, to empower them with study and personal support which will assist them as far as possible to achieve excellent results in their final matriculation exams, and to carve out a promising future for themselves.
The scholarship programme also opens the door to automatic consideration for exclusive under- and post-graduate bursaries under the scholarship programme based on the scholarship recipients’ matric and tertiary education results.
“It’s safe to say that over the course of the last two years, the Siyandisa Foundation Scholarship Programme has delivered remarkable results, with last year’s 50 recipients obtaining a total of 276 distinctions in their final grade 12 results. In addition, a number of these scholarship recipients were ranked among the Top 10 overall learners in their respective provinces,” remarks Cikizwa Bacela, Public Relations and Marketing Manager for the Siyandisa Foundation.
As an example of the success achieved with the support of the Siyandisa Foundation, she cites the five top performing 2018 Siyandisa Foundation Scholarship Recipients who were awarded merit bursaries of R50 000 each based on their final matriculation exam results.
Molelekeng Annah Mokoena from Tsebo Secondary School in the Eastern Free State, was awarded first position at the National Awards event in the Quintile 1 Schools category with seven distinctions and an average of 94%. For achieving second position in the overall provincial ranking – which includes learners from schools from all Quintile categories – she was also named the Overall Best Candidate at the Free State Provincial awards.
Avukile Nkayi from Nyanga High School in the Eastern Cape obtained a brilliant first position overall in the province and nationally held second position in the Quintile 3 category with seven distinctions and an average of 93,43%. In turn Kharendwe Mudzielwana from Thengwe Secondary School in Limpopo achieved first position nationally in the Quintile 3 Schools category, and held third position overall at provincial level with seven distinctions and an average of 92,71%.
Felicia Makondo a learner from EPP Mhinga Secondary School, also in Limpopo, too achieved third position in the Quintile 3 schools’ category at national level, and held fifth position overall at provincial level with seven distinctions and an average of 92,71%., while
Innocent Mashula from Mulenga Secondary School in Limpopo boasted an average of 92.71%.
“We’re already hard at work preparing for the next prestigious 2019 Siyandisa Scholarship Awards function taking place in Johannesburg on 5 April. This will undoubtedly be a life-changing event for many of these learners who mainly hail from rural environments, having thus far overcome massive personal challenges and financial difficulties to stand among the top academic performers in South Africa,” adds Bacela.
These top performing black learners from Quintile 1 to 3 schools across the country have all been identified based on their final grade 11 examination results, and invited to apply for the scholarships.
Sam Moleko, Chair of Siyandisa Trust and spokesperson for the Siyandisa Foundation, expresses great excitement about the opportunity to celebrate, among others, our country's future engineers, chartered accountants and doctors. The Siyandisa Foundation was established by Siyandisa Trust, a South African black-owned investment business focused on investing and establishing strategic partnerships with investment partners across a number of industry sectors in South Africa.
“We at Siyandisa Trust truly see ourselves as a partner focused on helping to grow South Africa. It is this same vision that has motivated us to establish the Siyandisa Foundation Scholarship Programme and to this year expand its reach to the entire country – investing in the leaders of tomorrow and in this way also contributing to our collective future,” says Moleko.
*The Siyandisa Scholarship offering includes tablets and data access as a technology platform for learning and interaction. With these tools, recipients gain access to custom high-quality online learning content targeted at matriculation examination preparation. A vital aspect of the scholarship is access to dedicated career counsellors assisting with the vital aspect of career and tertiary study preparation as well as access to personal mentors to assist with many of the soft skills difficulties learners are faced with. In addition, scholars receive stationery, power banks, a financial incentive of R1 000 per matriculation distinction achieved and the opportunity to quality for high value bursaries of R50,000 each for their tertiary studies.