For the fourth consecutive year, a group of matriculants from the Boland area have been awarded bursaries from the Paarl Media Bursary Trust to begin further study in 2011.
At a function for the new and existing students, held at Lemoenkloof Guest House on Tuesday, 19 October, Nico Grobbelaar, Human Resource Director of Paarl Media, explained the award process; “The successful recipients were selected by the Board of Trustees based on financial need, academic performance to date, relevancy of course as well as demonstrated leadership and community involvement. This year seven scholars met the requirements to receive bursaries, bringing the total allocated since 2006 to thirty three.”
In his welcome to both the recipients and their families, Lambert Retief, non Executive Chairman of Paarl Media, said; “We see the Paarl Media Bursary Trust as an investment in the youth of our community.” He explained that candidates are funded for the duration of their initial study course, on condition that they are successful. “We pay for success,” he stressed.
One of the first group of students to receive bursaries, Jean Jacques, currently in his third year of Civil Engineering study at Stellenbosch University commented; “It is a definite motivation to perform knowing that someone trusts and invests in you. It helps me push through when times are tough as you know people are counting on you. The Paarl Media Bursary Trust opened up an opportunity for me to study that I would not have had otherwise.”
Lesaan Willemse, in her second year of Tourism at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, confirmed, “I have had a passion for tourism since I was thirteen but would never have been able to study it without the bursary.”
One of the parents of new recipient, Francois Viljoen, added ” It’s a miracle, which opens doors not just for my son but for the whole family.” Francois is one of two successful candidates, who will be commencing medicine at the University of Stellenbosch next year.
“We have initiated this bursary trust because we believe that the future of our community depends on the education of the youth,” concludes Nico Grobbelaar. “We are in a position to offer a brighter future to a handful of young people with the will to succeed. That is what our Bursary Trust is all about.”
The R10 million Paarl Media bursary scheme, launched in 2008, is administered as a perpetual fund. It is aimed at students who are interested in studying at the University of Stellenbosch, University of Western Cape, Cape Peninsula University of Technology or Elsenburg Agricultural College. Although there are no prescriptions about the field of study, preference is given to candidates residing in the Drakenstein Valley.
For more information, please contact:
Louise Ehret
Paarl Media Marketing
+27 21 550 2627
E-mail ehret@telkomsa.net / louise.ehret@paarlmedia.co.za
