Last week 52 financial grants were given to matriculants and students at this year's Gadra Matric School (GMS) bursary awards ceremony.
On Friday 27 January the function was hosted at the Rennie Room of the Albany Natural History Museum, although only 23 of the recipients could attend.
Last week 52 financial grants were given to matriculants and students at this year's Gadra Matric School (GMS) bursary awards ceremony.
On Friday 27 January the function was hosted at the Rennie Room of the Albany Natural History Museum, although only 23 of the recipients could attend.
Of the 52 bursary winners, 10 were first-time recipients who finished their schooling at local schools, including the GMS. The 42 repeat recipients are all progressing well in their chosen fields of tertiary studies, according to a press statement from the school, and the majority of Gadra bursary recipients are registered at Rhodes University.
Gadra's education manager, Dr Ashley Westaway said that the vast majority of people who receive the bursaries are young Grahamstown residents who come from poor families. With the support of their families and friends, and lots of hard work, they have overcome difficult circumstances to achieve academic excellence, he proudly said.
These bursaries are given on the condition that the student is prepared to involve themselves in Gadra activities, as and when required, up to a maximum commitment of 10 hours per term. The other condition is that the students take it upon themselves to play a constructive role in education within their families and neighbourhoods. This responsibility can take a variety of forms from reading to their younger siblings, to encouraging pupils at their former schools to put more effort into studying. The crux is that they agree to be a champion for education in 2012, Westaway said.
Dr Ken Ngcoza of the Rhodes Education Department, and a former Gadra bursary recipient, gave a few words of encouragement to the crowd of parents and students at the event. Guests were also treated to five personal and inspirational stories from some outstanding bursars, one being Ayanda Twani who represented the Eastern Cape at the national competition for young communicators last year. She said that hopefully people who have been educated through Gadra will one day be able to come back and fund it to give others a chance.
This year preference was given to those people who studied through the bursaries last year. For future applicants of the bursary a family income limit of R10 000 a month is in place, so if your parents earn more than that you are ineligible for the bursary, Westaway said.
