Ex-Kearsney head boy honoured in America

A FORMER KwaZulu-Natal head boy has been awarded a prestigious academic honour for achieving in the top 10% at one of the world’s leading universities. Monde Nkosi, pictured, was named an Arjay Miller Scholar at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University in the US at the weekend, becoming the first black South African to receive the honour.

The 27-year-old from Kloof achieved this while studying a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Arts in Education simultaneously.

“I applied to Harvard and Stanford and was fortunately accepted at both, but chose Stanford because they allowed me to do both degrees at the same time. I spent a lot of time on my bike between the business and education campuses,” said Nkosi.

A top achiever throughout his schooling, Nkosi was the recipient of a scholarship at Kearsney College.

“That was thanks to an old boy who decided to start a scholarship to help others get an education. I have received a lot of help along the way, through scholarships in high school and university, and great mentorship,” he said.

This and his family’s influence cemented his desire to work in education. “My gran was a teacher and my mom dedicated her life to education; she started a school in rural Jozini. Although progress has been made, across sub-Saharan Africa there are far more people finishing secondary school than there are slots in universities, and it is clear from government budgets that this gap cannot be filled by governments alone.

“I want to work to expand higher education access through high-quality private institutions,” said Nkosi.