EKURHULENI Executive Mayor, Cllr Mondli Gungubele, allayed the fears of some families by awarding bursaries to top achievers in Ekurhuleni’s Grade 12 Class of 2015 on January 27 at the Kempton Park City Hall.
In total, the City of Ekurhuleni has awarded 848 deserving students with bursaries this year, in addition to the 403 students whose studies are already being funded by the municipality.
“Discovering that the municipality will be awarding me a bursary was by far the best news I have ever received, more than the eight distinctions I obtained,” said Pheziwe Mkhalane, the overall best performing learner in priority schools.
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“Coming from a not so well-off family, where there are six children, I know that studying further will bring about positive change in the family and also how my siblings turn out,” she continued.
Mkhalane is a learner from Unity High in Daveyton, who was housed by one of her teachers during her matric year in order to provide her with a conducive studying environment.
She was thankful for the support that she received from her teacher and cautioned the Class of 2016 to not leave studying for their finals to the last minute.
Addressing the top achievers, the executive mayor encouraged the shining stars to use the education they will receive to bring change in the world and achieve what they are destined for.
“You must be where you want to be and not where people want you to be. Use the education you will receive to help us bring harmony, solutions and clarity in the world,” said Gungubele.
He said the municipality will do its best to ensure that a university is built in the City of Ekurhuleni in the future and that more deserving students can be awarded bursaries.
The Executive Mayor also awarded the best performing school, the best performing school in a priority area and the most improved school with a total of R15 000 each towards a developmental project of their choice.
The bursaries handed over to the top four achievers (captioned photo) will cover the learners’ tertiary registration fees, tuition fees as well as accommodation.
They were also presented with a laptop and Ekurhuleni sporting gear.
