Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has encouraged communities to rally behind learners to improve the standard of the matric pass rate in KwaDukuza on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal.
He was speaking to scores of parents, teachers and learners during a handover of bursaries to learners who performed exceptionally well in 2015’s matric exams.
Leaners were all smiles when their names were called as 2015’s top matric achievers at a bursary hand-over ceremony in KwaDukuza. They say hard work, dedication and focus have earned them bursaries from the Nompumelelo Institute of Leadership.
The organisation funds learners who excelled in matric. Bursary recipients are mostly from poor families and were happy to receive the financial support. “To be honest I never really expected to do as I did in matric, but I think it is just because of consistence hard work and I always aimed to improve my marks to do better,” says one of the learners.
Gigaba urged bursary recipients to dedicate more time for their studies.
“Education as we were emphasising is not just a key to the future – it is also the future itself.”
Speaking at the event, Nompumelelo Institute of Leadership Chief Executive Officer Du Ngidi says the bursary is aimed at motivating learners to excel in their studies. Ngidi has appealed to the business community to support the institute with more funds.
“We started in 2006 with the programme, adopting learners from rural schools in terms of ensuring that we give them opportunities and motivate them especially those who are in matric. We want to ensure they pass well, get into tertiary institutions, study the course of their choice, and be able to acquire the knowledge needed in the country and skills that are short. But funding is not enough that is why we call on the business sector to assist in terms of donations to the organisation.”
Gigaba, who was a key note speaker, has encouraged communities to actively participate in the education of their children. He urged bursary recipients to dedicate more time for their studies.
“Education as we were emphasising is not just a key to the future – it is also the future itself. We want to call on the largest mobilisation of communities possible in the district to assist the educators and the learners to improve the standard of education in the district. We need to encourage our children to focus on important things and stay away from sex and focus on education.”
The bursary recipients believe that tertiary education will open doors for them. The Nompumelelo Institute of Leadership hosts a bursary awards hand over ceremony annually to recognise those who performed well in matric
rewarding the learners, educators and schools that have performed well in Grade 12…#DevelopingFutureLeadersToday pic.twitter.com/B1UBAR6VzI
— Malusi Gigaba (@mgigaba) February 13, 2016