“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint’, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”
It is because it was Avukile Nkayi from Quintile 3 Nyanga High School in the Eastern Cape, a 2018 Siyandisa Foundation Scholarship recipient who with an overall average of 93.43 held first overall position in the Eastern Cape following his final matric exams last year, that quoted Vincent van Gogh at the recently held Siyandisa Foundation Scholarship Awards Function, that these words resounded so significantly among the guests who attended this prestigious occasion.
He was addressing the 50 top performing black matriculants from low-income households all over the country who – just as he did the year before - were being awarded the 2019 Siyandisa Foundation Scholarships aimed at empowering them to achieve the best possible results in their final matriculation exams and further tertiary studies.
“I can assure you that that this scholarship is the beginning of great things for your matric year. When I count my blessings, I count the Siyandisa Foundation twice. If it were not for the help of this scholarship, I wouldn’t have achieved half of the things I have achieved in the past year. And for that, I will always be grateful,” he remarked earnestly.
This occasion marks the third successive year that the Siyandisa Foundation awarded its unique scholarships to black matriculants from low income households who are among the country’s top academic performers despite facing enormous personal and financial challenges on a daily basis.
These 50 learners from all nine provinces qualified for the scholarships in their grade 12 year by attaining an above 85% average at the end of Grade 11. In addition, learners could only qualify for the scholarships if their parents or guardians had been exempted from paying for tuition at their respective schools due to financial reasons, essentially ensuring that the scholarships are awarded to learners that have excelled under difficult economic conditions.
Going forward, their future has the potential to be much brighter. All 50 learners can now make full use of the study and personal support the scholarships provide, and come into consideration for further exclusive pre- and post-graduate bursaries under the scholarship programme, based on their matric and tertiary education results.
“This Scholarship Programme invests in South Africa’s future leaders, entrepreneurs, academics, doctors, engineers, scientists and more, by providing needy learners who have demonstrated academic excellence with vital resources, academic support, mentoring and career counselling,” remarked Sam Moleko, Chair of Siyandisa Trust and spokesperson for the Siyandisa Foundation, at the gala awards evening held in Johannesburg on the 5th of April this year.
With technology at the heart of the scholarship offering, each scholarship recipient receives a scholarship pack comprising of essential tools and learning material such as a state-of-the-art tablet device, data through scholarship partner Vodacom, over 50 hours of custom developed academic video lectures, and access to the My Top Dog online learning platform as an additional supplement to the aforementioned lectures in Grade 12 subjects, as well as a financial incentive of R1 000 per matriculation distinction achieved.
Recipients also receive invaluable career counselling and guidance; bursary and university application support; and vital mentorship and life-coaching by top mentors to empower them with the necessary soft skills to face the challenges of tertiary studies. As a final incentive to work hard and achieve academically, each recipient will automatically be considered for the award of five tertiary education bursaries to the value of R50,000 each to be paid to the top five recipients in furtherance of their tertiary studies.
Cikizwa Bacela, Siyandisa Foundation Scholarship Manager, reflects on the remarkable results the scholarship programme has seen over the past two years. “The first-generation 2017 recipients of these unique scholarships were made up of 25 scholars from the Free State who obtained 136 distinctions in total, and later received R286 000 in bursaries from the Siyandisa Foundation.
“In 2018 the programme was launched nationally with 50 scholars from across the various provinces finally amassing 276 distinctions at the end of their matric results. That year the Siyandisa Foundation paid R526 000 in bursaries, which included R50 000 awarded to each of the year’s top five recipients.”
In first position last year was Molelekeng Mokoena from the Free State, who with an average of 94% held second overall position in the province and achieved first position nationally in the Quintile 1 schools’ category. She is now registered for MBChB at Wits University.
Three learners from Limpopo Province, each with an overall average of 92.71% and who are now all studying at the University of the Witwatersrand, were in third position together. Today Felicia Makondo from EPP Mhinga and Kharendwe Mudzielwana from Thengwe Secondary School are both studying Accounting Sciences, while Innocent Mashula from Mulenga Secondary School has enrolled for a degree in Chemical Engineering. Each achieved seven distinctions.
Nkayi, now a first-year MBChB student at the University of Cape Town, was rated second of the 2018 top five recipients so richly rewarded. “Think of Van Gogh every time you feel there is something you cannot do, and remember that I once said there are no limits to your success. Go and make yourselves, your parents and the Siyandisa Foundation proud,” he closed his message to the class of 2019.
Click here to watch footage of how events at the function unfolded.