The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) recently hosted a career expo in Ntafufu, Port St Johns, which was aimed at equipping learners from local high schools with information that they can use to inform their career choices.
SANRAL also used the career expo to share information on its scholarship and bursary programmes.
The career expo scholarship and bursary drives are part of SANRAL’s nationwide roadshow to visit high school learners in previously disadvantaged communities who do not have access to information, particularly those who are in rural and remote areas.
SANRAL’s stakeholder engagement coordinator for the southern region, Welekazi Ndika, encouraged learners to focus on their studies and make an extra effort in excelling to meet minimum requirements that are stipulated by universities and other institutions of higher learning and training.
“Our scholarship programme is available to learners from Grades eight to 12, regardless of their subjects of choice.
“If you achieve an overall aggregate of 60% and above on your studies, you are eligible to apply for a scholarship at SANRAL,” said Ndika.
The scholarship programme pays for school fees, stationery, school uniforms and hostel accommodation, where necessary.
Ndika said that the roads agency also offered a bursary programme for those learners who wanted to study towards career fields such as law, finance and human resources. SANRAL’s bursary programme was previously only available to civil engineering students and those who wanted to pursue careers in the related fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
During the 2020/21 financial year, SANRAL awarded 220 scholarships at a total investment of R7 million, and 100 bursaries at a total investment of R8 million in the Eastern Cape.
Learners who attended the career expo were from local schools, including Ntafufu Senior Secondary School, Ben Mali Senior Secondary School, Sobaba Senior Secondary School, and Toli Senior Secondary School.
SANRAL also hosted a quiz for the learners to make them aware of its distinct mandate to finance, improve, manage, and maintain the national road network, often referred to as the “economic arteries” of South Africa.
The winning school, Toli SSS, won a project to the value of R100 000; the 12 participants each received a backpack and the three top learners each won a tablet.
Applications for SANRAL bursaries and scholarships close on 30 September 2022, and application information is available on www.nra.co.za.
