Reigning Miss South Africa Natasha Joubert has launched the first phase of her advocacy campaign which includes more than R1.5 million in bursaries being made available for 27 recipients.
This week, Joubert announced a partnership with Boston City Campus, which will see the awarding of 12 scholarships, as part of her Natasha Joubert Collective.
The Study Buddy Fund has also partnered with the Miss South Africa Organisation to enable young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher education. In line with its focus on education, the Study Buddy Fund has allocated R500 000 to fund another approximately 15 students at Boston City Campus.
Entrepreneurship and education are close to Joubert’s heart and she has pledged to devote herself to these two causes during her reign.
“I am focusing on education during this initial stage. I was in a position where, without a scholarship, I wouldn’t have been able to study further, so I know how it feels to be excluded because of a lack of finances.
“Education should never be a privilege limited to the fortunate few. It is our duty to facilitate an inclusive society where financial constraints do not obstruct the aspirations of talented individuals. By establishing bursaries and scholarships, we lay the foundation for a fair and equitable society.”
Her affiliation with her alma mater, Boston City Campus, means that 12 South African learners, aged 18-years or older, stand to receive full, one-year academic scholarships to study at Boston City Campus. The scholarship is for distance e-learning studies towards a full-time undergraduate qualification starting in 2024.
Boston City Campus is a nationwide private provider of quality higher education which was founded in 1991 and today has 47 support centres, more than 20 000 registered students and over 25 qualifications and many short learning programmes for quick skills acquisitions to select from.
Joubert says she is determined to ensure that it is not only the best performing candidates that receive scholarships: “I want it to be inclusive and not only available to the top achievers. I also wanted scholarships for less traditional studies, so this batch of scholarships will include Content Creation, Television Production, Higher Certificates in Financial Planning, Business Management, Marketing Practices and Paralegal Practices.”
Applicants should apply online at www.boston.ac.za for one of the listed qualifications. The City Campus acceptance letter or provisional acceptance letter should be sent, with a one page motivational letter, to natashajoubert@boston.co.za
Entries are now open and close on January 15, 2024. Those applying can use their mid-year results when applying.
“No one escapes difficulties. Setbacks may have the power to temporarily derail your journey, so the aim at Boston is to get people to see them rather as gifts in the form of a learning experience. This gives our learners the opportunity to create empowering beliefs and recommit with greater determination in order to achieve goals” says Natalie Rabson, Head of Public Relations at Boston City Campus.
It is a message echoed by Nozicelo Ngcobo, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability Manager of the Study Buddy Fund: “Given the current challenges of youth unemployment in the country, a higher education can go a long way towards improving young people’s prospects of finding jobs and enhancing their and their families’ quality of life. Our success lies in co-creating solutions that will contribute towards the sustainable growth of our country.”
Emphasises Joubert: “This is only the start of my education drive so watch this space for exciting new partnerships next year when I will also be announcing several entrepreneurial projects.”
Miss South Africa is presented by Weil Entertainment in association with Sun International. SABC3 is the official broadcast partner.