Foundation rewards 2020 matrics
Top achievers to receive assistance at university
Ten former Bulelani Secondary School matric pupils were awarded for their stellar performance in the
2020 academic year by the Maki Foundation last Thursday.
The top achievers with averages of between 90 and
100% received perfume and duvet sets and diamond certificates, those with an average of between 80 and 90% were given books and perfume sets, while those who achieved
70 to 80% got certificates. Maki Foundation chief executive officer Vukani Maki said the institution mainly worked with rural schools and those situated in impoverished townships to provid support for pupils studying economics, mathematics, life science and agriculture.
“This is just the starting point because we will keep rewarding them until they graduate from university. They know that whatever academic challenges they may face, we are here for them.
“We provide them with guidance while at university so they can get used to the system there. Pupils from previously disadvantaged areas are usually the first ones in their families to go to university after matric and we support them with accommodation and text books.
“We also provide tutors so they maintain their academic performance,” said Maki.
He said graduates facing unemployment needed to overcome this challenge by being proactive and making use of their natural talents.
“The idea is to encourage students to identify their natural talents, and learn to develop them so they can use their gifts to earn a living.
“We teach them to start small businesses while they are still students so that they have something to do after graduating until they have found work,” said the CEO. The foundation also assisted students to draft their curriculum vitae, find jobs, and arranged transport and accommodation for scheduled interviews.
“These are all things I struggled with during university and after I graduated. I do not want students to go through the same experiences,” Maki said.
Bulelani deputy principal Pumla Rongo said they were excited to have formed a private-public partnership with the Maki Foundation, which had benefited pupils each year since it started.
“We are excited that the foundation came back for the third time to award our pupils. “The pupils are also happy. “As much as Covid-19 is still among us, our pupils have been brave in attending school regularly, which is why some were awarded today.
“We always encourage pupils to rather go to school because it is a controlled
environment, than be out there where they could easily be infected,” she said.
Rongo said the school was proud of its former pupils, including Asanda Jack, who was
doing well at the University of Cape Town after being awarded a bursary by the foundation.