SAILI News

Matric 2016

A super HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to our 2016 Matric cohort! We had 20 matrics and they all achieved maths and science passes as well as Bachelor passes. They collected an astonishing total of 68 distinctions between them! This is well and above the highest achieving SAILI matric year in our memory. We are super proud of them and also of their schools for such excellent preparation. Special mention goes to these five young women:

* Nazeefah Hoosain, Livingstone, 6 Distinctions
* Nikita Henke, South Peninsula, 8 Distinctions
* Firdows Alexander, Rylands, 7 Distinctions
* Nur-Aini Benjamin, Claremont, 7 Distinctions
* Cayley Tarr, Westerford, 8 Distinctions

These significant achievements give us confidence that we achieving our aim of matching successful students to successful schools.

Tertiary Bursaries

A tertiary bursary is awarded for study after high school at TVET colleges, Universities of Technology and Universities. There are several different types of bursaries awarded for selected reasons. These reasons may include academic excellence, special talent, categories of people – racial, religious categories, gender or disabilities and financial need. It is important to read carefully the type of person the bursar is looking for.

Bursaries are provided by charitable organisations, wealthy individuals and companies. Companies such as Nedbank provide bursaries because they want to see more young people graduate into their sector. These organisations are spending their own money so they get to choose the type of person or study field that they want to spend it on.

The government also provides bursaries for scarce skills training. This includes teachers, social workers, artisan trades and many of the other courses offered by TVET colleges. Scarce skills are jobs in high demand with few people qualified. You can read more about scarce skills here. Some of these government bursaries are administered through NSFAS but the application process is different to applying for a NSFAS loan. You can read about NSFAS bursaries here. If you can’t find a bursary option in your preferred study field, there are also some general bursaries that apply to any course of study.

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Peer Pressure and Career Choice

When you ask parents about their concerns for their teenagers, one of the worries most often spoken is "peer pressure". We know that peer influence has a role in the way that teenagers dress and behave. However a surprising Cape Town study, complete by Kath at SAILI, has found that when it comes to career choice, friends are hardly important at all.

Over 800 Grade 11 learners at Cape Town high schools were asked who was the most important person they spoke to about their future career. Options included friends, teachers and family members. Overwhelmingly family members were chosen as the most important. Moms were selected first followed by Dads then other family members. Less than 2% of young people selected their friends as most important!

What can we conclude? Family members are most often turned to and relied on for the development of career ideas. It is therefore very important that families are ready for these conversations. Parents need to take care to educate themselves so that they can give accurate advice to their children. Children listen to the expectations of parents so parents need to encourage their teens' development by offering both challenges and realistic feedback.