Twelve Grade 11 pupils of Umqhele Comprehensive in Ivory Park, and Ingqayizivele Secondary and Thuko Ke Maatla Secondary in Tembisa have been taken under the wing of African Bank as part of a mentorship programme.
The pupils each submitted a short profile to African Bank indicating their study interests and family circumstances. Many of the girls live with one unemployed parent and more than one sibling, and all have aspirations of obtaining a degree after school to pursue careers such as doctors, chartered accountants and psychologists, among others.
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The mentees visited the African Bank offices in Midrand for a meet-and-greet with executives and other staff who explained the expectations and requirements of the mentorship, and shared some personal stories with the girls while allowing them a peek into the corporate world.
African Bank’s Hanri Nel, together with two of her colleagues, Bibi Tilly and Natasha Johnston who are driving the project, explained that the mentees were all female and were identified as the top achievers in the three schools the bank selected as part of this programme.
Nel added, “The programme is about life after Grade 12 and we aim to equip these pupils with various skills to help them prepare for the challenges ahead. This includes assistance with choosing a higher education institution, entrance requirements, fees, bursaries and more.
“It also involves skills like managing your finances and public speaking. Where necessary, we will offer financial assistance to enable these girls to attend university.”
Kennedy Dembetembe, who heads up the bank’s national corporate social investment drive said, “As an organisation, we have been concerned to see the high dropout rate amongst first-year university students and a lot of this has to with readiness. We are very involved in early learning and high school sport and academic development but were missing the bridge between school and university.
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“This programme will start to address the shortfall. In addition to the work Hanri and her team will be doing with the girls, my CSI team will also be visiting the schools during the month, imparting skills and mentoring so that all the students in that grade can benefit from the programme as well.”
Principal of Umqhele Comprehensive, Otto Lekgoathi said pupils from the school taking part in the mentorship were all excited about it.
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