The South African National Roads Agency Limited SOC (SANRAL) has joined local and global organs of state in marking International Literacy Day.

SANRAL has contributed towards literacy as a human right and the foundation of learning, by broadening the offering and expanding the reach of its bursary and scholarship programme, in order to increase accessibility for learners in remote areas.

SANRAL recently took the programme into rural Phuthaditjhaba, making presentations to four schools in the community.

With strict adherence to COVID-19 health protocols, learners from Qwa Qwa Combined School, Letlotlo Primary, Kgola-Thuto Secondary and Mohaladitwe Secondary received valuable information, which will be relayed to their parents, for application purposes.

“Through these community engagement sessions, we are reaching audiences who have not previously applied to our programme because of the digital divide. We are already seeing a marked increase in the number of applications streaming in for financial aid,” said Monageng Mokgojwa, SANRAL’s Stakeholder Coordinator in the Eastern Region (KZN and Free State).
This week, SANRAL took the initiative to the West Coast with presentations to three schools in Moorreesburg: Ruststasie Primary, Laurie Hugo Primary and Dirkie Uys High.
“The bursary and scholarship outreach in this neighbourhood is to ensure SANRAL’s commitment to community development goes beyond roads,” explained Thembinkosi Mosobela, SANRAL’s Stakeholder Coordinator in the Western Region.
Initially, the scholarship programme was designed to give financial support to Grade 10 to Grade 12 learners who excelled in mathematics and science.

However, this year scholarships are available to all high school learners, i.e. from Grade 8 to Grade 12, irrespective of their subject choices.

Furthermore, where learners previously required a 70% overall aggregate to be eligible for consideration, they now require 60% with a view to improving their aggregate to 70%.

In addition, financial support through bursary allocations, which was previously exclusively for Civil Engineering, has now been made available for disciplines such as Public Relations, Auditing, Supply Chain Management, Law, Human Resources and Finance, which collectively support SANRAL’s corporate structure.

“Unemployment is a major challenge in this community, and as such, scores of parents are not able to fund their children’s education. We have some incredibly bright learners, and removing the financial obstacles will enable them to spread their wings and soar,” said Hester Arendse, a teacher at Laurie Hugo Primary School.

Applications for bursaries and scholarships are available on the SANRAL website and close on 30 September 2021.