The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure will award bursaries to outstanding students in their matric years as part of its efforts to attract more skilled professionals to the public sector, particularly the built environment.
Patricia de Lille, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister, will present bursaries to 53 students who have recently matriculated and been accepted to study at different universities in the country for degrees in built environment.
Every year, the department awards bursaries for students who are outstanding and enrolled in courses related to the built environment.
The DPWI offers a bursary program that is linked to the overall Skills Pipeline Project. This encourages students to think about careers in the built environment at school level.
Another goal of the DPWI Bursary Programme aims at removing financial barriers by providing funding to disadvantaged students in order to access qualifications in the built environment.
The program is designed to increase the number and diversity of professionals working in the built environments from previously disadvantaged groups, so that they can better represent the country’s population and help transform the sector.
The programme also serves as a feeder for the departmental Internship and Young Professionals Programme and later creates a pool of qualified professionals in built environment to support the state’s delivery of infrastructure projects.
The bursary supports the following study areas; Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering, Marine Engineering and Property Studies / Real Estate. Quantity Surveying, Actuarial Science and Quantity Surveying are all included. Construction Project Management, Landscape Architecture, Architecture and Town and Regional Planning are also covered. Bursary recipients must enrol in a B-Degree in one of these fields and at a university in the country.
The bursary covers tuition and accommodation, meals, textbooks and compulsory study materials, as well as a monthly allowance.
Since the program’s inception in 2014, DPWI have awarded bursaries of R52 million to 401 students. This investment of R52million into the lives and skills of the students has brought R52 million to the public sector.
Many of the students scored excellent marks in the recent matric exams. Many also achieved distinctions for maths and physics.
Students have been accepted to courses in Actuarial Science and Electrical Engineering, Construction Studies and Urban and Regional Planning. They will also be studying at accredited traditional universities.
Minister de Lille will present bursary award certificates and testimonials from former bursary recipients to students during a ceremony.
(With inputs from South African Government Press release)
