NMMU gives 24 first-years scholarships
TWENTY-FOUR first-year students at NMMU received the Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship on Friday night based on their academic results in the national senior certificate exams.
The scholarships, worth R89 000 each, were renewable for each year of undergraduate studies, university spokeswoman Zandile Mbabela said, provided that the recipients maintained their high academic achievement.
NMMU vice-chancellor Professor Derrick Swartz introduced the scholarship in 2009 with the main objective of attracting top-performing school-leavers from across the country.
Presenting the coveted scholarships for the last time at the helm of the university, Swartz said the scholarship was just one of many ways in which the university recognised and awarded top academic performance and widened access to higher education.
“I created this scholarship some years ago in response to a desire on our part to affirm and to vindicate the importance of achievement, individual endeavour, hard work and merit,” he said.
“For me, it is an exceedingly proud moment that we have a number of students who are the best of the best, from all walks of life and from different corners of the country ... here to join the university and to receive the highest undergraduate scholarship award in the history of the university.”