The Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Services SETA) has awarded 265 bursaries to CPUT students for the current academic year, making CPUT students the largest group of beneficiaries of this SETA nationwide.

“We pride ourselves as a sector skills and training authority in meeting the needs of students and ensuring that new entrants to the labour market are adequately trained,” Bursary Manager, Basani Sithole, told the students.

“It is your responsibility to pass your studies and enhance the skills of the current workforce and alleviate poverty in our communities.”

The partnership between CPUT and the SETA started in 2015 when 10 students from Khayelitsha were awarded bursaries.  In 2016 another 10 students from Mitchells Plain were funded and in 2017 that number increased exponentially to 265. The SETA says it is eager to continue funding CPUT students in 2018.

The students applied directly to the SETA. The bursaries were awarded to both part-time and full-time students with the former getting a maximum of R35 000, which covers tuition fees and books, while the latter got R60 000 for tuition fees, books, meals and accommodation.

The role of the SETA is to ensure that the skill requirements of the services sector are identified and that adequate and appropriate skills are readily available.  The Services SETA contributes to the improvement of sector skills by ensuring that education and training is provided for the citizens of South Africa.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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Anele Gebenga, An MTech student in Business Administration, has walked away with this year’s Abe Bailey Travel Bursary Award following a rigorous selection process.

His political leadership in the South African Students Congress and the role he played in providing educational support to Lentegeur High School learners in Mitchells Plain earned him the prestigious award.

“You have been selected for your exceptional leadership qualities and community service and we congratulate you on this outstanding achievement. This prestigious award has been made to over 800 South African students of outstanding calibre since 1951,” reads the letter sent to him by the Abe Bailey Trust.

Anele says he wants to use his experience as motivation to the students he interacts with as a Retention Officer in the Project Management Department that, no matter where they come from their dreams can be fulfilled.

He has been applying to the award since 2016 when he first saw an advertisement on campus notice boards calling for applications to the bursary award.

Anele and his counterparts from other South African universities will benefit from the enriching educational tours and team-building exercises in Cape Town from 26 to 28 November, before departing for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the next day.

 “In Addis Ababa we’ll visit the African Union offices and some heritage sites before jetting off to the United Kingdom where we’ll visit the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh,” he says.

The focus of the Abe Bailey Trust is leadership development and the Trustees wish the bursaries to be awarded to persons who are academically strong and have shown exceptional qualities of leadership and service.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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