“Standard Bank  Donates Just Under R500k To SA’s Top 33 Matriculants Of 2021”

In support of the future development of South Africa’s 2021 matriculants, Standard Bank will provide a financial donation to the value of R495 000 to 33 of the country’s top-performing scholars. This is to assist them with covering the costs of necessities associated with pursuing a higher education journey. The 33 top-performing scholars to be announced at the Matric Results event hosted the Department of Education this evening, will receive R15 000 each from Standard Bank, which will be deposited into their Standard Bank Account.  

“The successful completion of matric marks a significant milestone in the lives of South African youth. The focus and resilience shown by the Class of 2021, in the last two years, as they navigated all the challenges and uncertainties of COVID-19, is even more remarkable,” says Tshiamo Molanda, Head, Youth Clients CHNW, Standard Bank South Africa. “It is with this in mind, that we offer this token of our appreciation in celebration of their tremendous efforts. Access to education in South Africa is critical, and we hope the R15 000 contribution can assist with the start-up costs associated with the pursuit of one’s higher education journey.” 

This contribution is over and above Standard Bank’s provincial investments that have been awarded to the top provincial performers of the Class of 2021. At the heart of Standard Bank lies a deep commitment to driving prosperity on the continent and this involves partnering with young people and those that work with young people through our youth-focused development.

Molanda adds that the financial donation is just one of various initiatives that Standard Bank has undertaken to support the development of the country’s youth. “We continue to enable access to quality education and ongoing skills training to help Africans achieve their educational goals and aspirations. We believe in driving Africa’s growth through empowering her people from the most remote of areas, to the rest of our continent at large, and this is achieved through various projects, partnerships and initiatives.” 

Supporting the development of STEM skills

In recognition of the need to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills, the bank recently entered an exciting partnership with the South African Mathematics Foundation through which it has made a three-year investment (until 2024) to enhance the skills and better equip 75 maths teachers of quintile 1-5 schools. 

Standard Bank also donated R500 000 in 2021 towards the YouthStart Maths and Science Grade 12 revision programme, which prepares underserved SA youth for their Matric Math and Science examinations with the aim of increasing general the number of matriculants passing as well as number of Bachelor passes.

Funding the missing middle

Standard Bank established the ISFAP Missing Middle Bursary Programme as a funding model to sustainably cater for the higher education needs and costs of SA’s poor and middle-class students. The programme aims to fast-track the country’s skills production for the 21st century by funding the higher education costs of mainly students studying towards a career in Occupations of High Demand, which have been identified as critical to South Africa’s economic development by the Human Resources Development Council. These include Actuaries, Accountants, Engineers, Medical Doctors, Pharmacists and Prosthetists. 

In 2017, SBSA supported 154 students, most studying towards aMBBCh -Medicine, Engineering and Actuarial Science. In 2020, 15 students graduated and managed to reach a average rate of 91%. Last year, 125 students were supported and SBSA contributed around R25 million towards student tuition, books, psychosocial support and overall wrap around support to ensure the students completed their degrees successfully. In response to COVID-19 and the introduction of virtual learning, provisions were made to ensure that students had the necessary technological tools to assist in their studies.

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