The Alfeco Group launched its inaugural bursary awards ceremony on September 2 in Alberton. The group provided bursaries worth R2.8-million to more than 50 higher-education deserving students and 15 of their internal staff.
“The Alfeco Bursary Awards Ceremony gave us an opportunity to provide debt relief for students who had tuition debt that was interfering with their graduation further to that as a form of youth upliftment and staff development, we provided up-skilling opportunities and advancement within the manufacturing industry to our employees,” said Neil Reddy, Business Strategy Group Executive.
The selection criterion was kept simple. The group identified deserving students who had been underfunded and financially excluded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
“We focused on helping final-year students in the Metallurgy, Finance, and Engineering faculties so we could potentially provide career growth opportunities using our pre-existing internships, learnerships or apprenticeships run with our training authority body partners MerSeta,” said Reddy.
UJ’s Head of Metallurgy, Professor Elizabeth Makhatha, thanked the Alfeco Group for relieving their students from the financial burden and opening opportunities for all stakeholders.
“The bursaries mean a great deal to our department, industry and the physical metallurgy students. These bursaries will build student’s confidence and motivate our staff members to ensure that our department stays relevant to the industries we serve and produce students. This will also help us gain a competitive edge in the global marketplace as well,” said Professor Makhatha.
Bursary recipient from UJ Giovanni Borges said it was a privilege to receive the bursary because it means a lot to him and his family. “I’ve been working hard, daily to continue my studies and enter the finance corporate world-no matter the circumstances. My parents had to borrow money over the past two years from family and friends to pay for my studies,” said Borges.
CEO of the Alfeco Group Sachin Ahuja inspired the students to aspire to use their education and experience to be entrepreneurs. “You are the future of tomorrow. Go out there and create opportunities for yourselves and others,” said Ahuja.