Community bursary or Corporate Social Investment bursaries are designed to provide financially needy and academically deserving students with the education, skills and tools that will empower them to bring a new capacity to their communities through their academic credentials, leadership skill. These bursaries are generally funded by organizations that operate within the same geographic location as the would be beneficiaries on the bursary.
Some industries like mining require organizations to have a Social and Labour plan (SLP) which is where a community bursary could be administered. A Social and Labour Plan (SLP) is a regulatory requirement in South Africa designed to promote socio-economic development and transformation within mining communities. The primary goal of an SLP is to ensure that mining companies contribute to the socio-economic development of the communities where they operate, as well as the areas from which they source their labour.. This includes improving living conditions, providing skills development, and ensuring sustainable community growth even after mining activities have ceased.
The bursary covers the following:
- Tuition Fees
- Meals
- Accommodation
- Study Materials.
While employment is a guarantee on the bursary some organizations cater for vacation work or practical training as part of the sponsorship. This therefore also means that there is no service obligation for being funded.
Organizations funding who fund Community or Corporate Social Investment bursaries may have varying qualifying criteria which range from:
- Proof of citizenship,
- Proof of address that you are from a specific municipality where the funding organization operates,
- Proof of Registration in the case of prescriptive fields of study,
- Academic results to demonstrate suitability and strength.
Applicants can apply for the bursaries administered by Career Wise via the Application Tracking System.