Studietrust Bursary Organisation - Today For Tomorrow!

History

Studietrust, since 1974!

Studiet

rust was established on 13 June 1974 in response to the fact that at the time only R14 p.a. was spent by the state on a black child’s education compared to R247 spent on a white child. The South Africa of today is a different place, but our focus has remained the young person with the ability and determination, but without the opportunity to study further. Faith in the power of possibility has enabled people to come together in spite of the divisions of the past.

Of the total number of South African black learners in 1974 only 6% were in high schools and less than 0.5% in matric. This factor motivated the work of Studietrust and following the youth uprisings of 16 June 1976 there was a marked increase in applications for bursaries. Studietrust had become a source of hope to young people who could not otherwise access further and tertiary education.

In the first year of its existence Studietrust allocated bursaries to 75 successful applicants, mostly high school students. In 2009 the figure was 620 the majority studying towards degrees at universities. An additional milestone was the establishment of a partnership with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). This enabled Studietrust to further administer loans to needy students in order to supplement the partial bursaries received from the Trust.

Over the last 8 years the average success rate of Studietrust bursars was 89.5%. Our stringent selection procedure is the first critical success factor and our personalised mentorship programme the second. Over the past two years we have canvassed the opinion of our bursars on the feasibility of a peer mentor programme and the response was overwhelmingly positive. We are now ready to roll out the pilot phase of this new programme in the hope that it will further enhance the sense of belonging to a caring fellowship in our bursars.

Studietrust 35

Studietrust 35 - The Legacy of Rev Jan Hofmeyr

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