Knysna Rotary for education
As far back as 1966 members of Rotary Club Knysna have been assisting students with education bursaries.
“The club realised that education was the single most important asset young people could acquire to prepare them for the challenges of life and give them a solid foundation for building a sound future, so the club created an Education Fund to send deserving youngsters to university,” explained Peter Klews, Rotary Club Knysna PR.
Members were then urged to contribute R10 and during 1976 the fund was boosted considerably when the late Joan Fisk bequeathed R1 826.
“Interestingly some 65 % of the requests received from the public are from mothers, 30% from students themselves and very rarely fathers appeal to our members for help,” said Klews.
As bursaries do not qualify for matching grants, bursaries are the largest single budget item of the Rotary Club Knysna, funded entirely from income raised locally.The funds are generated from the Pick n Pay Weekend Argus Knysna Rotary Cycle Tour, the Rotary Golf Weekend and the Rotary Friendship Tours. “This year, the funds were boosted by a once-off contribution of almost R30 000 from the Rotary Club of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,” smiled Klews.
He explained, “This windfall came about through one of their members, Chris Davies, who has been a frequent visitor to Knysna and supported several of our projects, notably the provision of wheelchairs. The chairman of the UK Wheelchair Foundation, Martin Turner, visited South Africa and Knysna last year but sadly passed on to higher service a few months ago. His widow requested that the funds be used for bursary purposes in Knysna.”
During the current Rotary year, July 2012 to June 2013, approximately R170 000 (excluding the R30 000 received from Cheltenham) was made available to support deserving students for tertiary education.
“The application process starts in October when advertisements are placed in local media inviting scholars to submit applications, which may be downloaded from the website www.rotaryknysna.co.za . Deadline for submission are normally mid-November,” said Klews.
This year 65 applications were received and vetted by the bursary committee consisting of a chairperson and four Rotary Club Knysna members, all from the New Generations Committee, and most of these committee members have backgrounds in education. After several interviews, which, according to Klews, take well over a month and is emotionally draining on both the interviewees and interviewers alike, 27 bursaries were awarded. Although Klews pointed out that almost all applicants had the required attributes, “some failed the residential qualifications and other criteria as spelled out in the application form”. Of the 27 awardees, 17 were students who had been recipients in previous years whilst 10 were new students going into their first year. Bursaries are awarded for one year only and students have to re-apply annually, submitting their course results to the committee.
Klews further gave the assurance that recipients represent all sectors of the rainbow nation fairly and are evenly distributed between males and females who are pursuing careers in extremely diverse fields. “All of them are graduates of one of the six high schools in Knysna and their families resident in our town. Quite a few had been members of their respective schools’ Interact Clubs – Rotary Clubs for youths between the ages of 12 and 18.”
Bursaries were awarded towards the completion of tertiary education qualifications, including CA, B Eng (Chem), BA (Teaching), B Ed (Foundation Phase), BA (Media and Communication), Nursing, Business Management, Law, MB ChB, Early Childhood Development, Nature Conservation, Marketing, Electrical Engineering, Journalism and B Soc Sc.
Educational establishments were similarly diverse. The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, the University of the Free State, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, the Klein Karoo Resource Centre in Oudtshoorn and the Emmanuel Nursing College in the same town are popular choices, but UNISA, the University of Stellenbosch, Rhodes University in Grahamstown, the University of Cape Town and the University of Pretoria were also chosen.
“A good education is the key to individual, community and national well-being. Education opens the door for an individual to realise their full potential and to enjoy the satisfaction and joy that this achievement brings. Social stability, good governance and efficient use of our resources depend on education, as can be seen by the direct link between poverty and educational standards. It is the duty of those of us who can, to provide the opportunity for education to as wide a section of our community as possible and especially to those who have demonstrated a willingness to learn.”
“We also take great pleasure in being able to promote this most important function in our community,” concluded Klews.
Source: Knysna-Plett Herald