Scholarship Numbers Elevate in South Africa
We are pleased to report on the increasing number of scholarships we are facilitating for children in the townships to go to “former model c schools” where they get to inter-act with different races and receive top level education.
Pearson High School in Port Elizabeth was the first school we built this relationship with; in the year 2010, where we facilitated a rugby scholarship for three boys starting Grade 8. The three boys now only have one more year of school, and they’re all looking forward to life after school. Since we started this relationship, we have been sending an increasing number of boys and girls to Pearson year after year. This year, we sent a total of 9 children to start Grade 8; giving a total of fifteen children currently on a sport scholarship at this school. Some of the older boys take pride in playing for the school’s rugby first team.
The second school we built a relationship with was Jeppe High School for Boys in Johannesburg, through the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund. This Fund pays special attention to orphaned children who are highly motivated and have a drive to succeed in life. We currently have one boy at Jeppe, who has evolved into such a young gentleman over the three years he has been there.
The latest relationship is with St George’s Preparatory, in Port Elizabeth. The main difference between this school and the other two is that St George’s is a primary school; therefore accepts younger children for a year or two before they move on to high school. Children selected for this scholarship are at an advantage as they get moulded at an earlier age to adjust from a township school to a multi-racial one, which makes their chances of receiving a scholarship for high school even higher. We sent our first group of children to St George’s this year, two boys and two girls who are all high achievers in sport.
Despite all the talent there is in the townships, it is extremely difficult for parents to afford schools which can open up opportunities for their children. It is therefore our greatest pleasure to provide the platform for such opportunities. The difference in the quality of education in the township schools and the multi-racial ones is remarkably vast. This therefore means the children need to work extra hard to catch-up, giving extra hours in their days where we provide tutors to assist them with their academics.
It was a lovely reward and incentive for the children when we took all of them to a Super 15 Rugby game at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium between our local team, the Southern Kings and the Sharks, a team from Kwa-Zulu Natal. The children also got to socialise with their international tutors on a more casual environment, outside the classroom. The roles were reversed as the kids were teaching the tutors a thing or two about rugby.
“Being at St George’s is hard; we have a lot of work even after school. It’s nice because the teachers help us with our homework. I want to go to Pearson next year because they are good in a lot of sport and I will fit in well.”- Numaan de Maar, UTS Beneficiary, 12 yrs old.
“We, as a family were over the moon when we learnt that my son would attend a school as prestigious as St George’s Prep. As a parent, you always have big dreams for your children, but being unemployed limits those dreams. With school fees, transport and school uniform arranged for us, we are only left with providing support for him.” – Leonie de Maar, UTS Beneficiary Parent.
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