We Care Bursary Fund

The number of academically deserving but financially needy students has significantly increased due to the current economic challenges the country is facing. Some of these students are assisted through the NSFAS scheme. About 34% of our students are cash-paying, while others are from the missing middle category. However, the latter find it difficult to cover their study fees. Furthermore, there is an extensive need for funding support to students enrolling for postgraduate studies, since most available bursaries focus on undergraduate studies.

The NWU deeply cares for its students and therefore appeals for donations from organisations, alumni and friends of the institution in order to continue to extend this bursary fund to deserving students. This bursary fund assists in covering study fees, books, meals and accommodation.

Final year and outstanding debt

The sad reality is that some of our senior students cannot receive their qualifications because of outstanding fees or historical debt. One of the reasons for this is the retrenchment of sponsors such as parents or guardians, who can no longer assist students financially. Your donations will help to cover the students’ outstanding debt and their final-year study fees to enable them to pursue their dreams.

1. Ikateleng Programme

The programme offers supplementary teaching to Grade 10, Grade 11 and Grade 12 learners in four provinces (Gauteng, North West, the Free State and the Northern Cape), focusing on the following subjects: English, Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Commerce. The aim is to help learners to achieve an excellent pass and to access universities to enrol in programmes that require Mathematics and Physical Sciences in order to respond to the skills shortage evident in our country.

To donate to the project and for more information, please contact Celeste Rossouw.

2. Women in Engineering

The aim of the Women in Engineering (WiE) programme is to increase the number of female engineers who are available for industry to employ, to bring about gender equality in the workplace, and to provide fresh perspectives on the  challenges faced in this industry. The objectives of this programme are (a) to motivate, stimulate interest in, and improve access to engineering and related studies for South African high school girls, and (b) to support, encourage and inspire existing female engineering students at the NWU to successfully complete and/or further their studies.

We work towards these objectives in a number of projects:

• Femmegineer: a unique weekend course and exposure event, presenting the different faces of engineering as a career suitable for women.
• Modiragatsi: an innovation and problem-solving competition aimed at high school girls, equipping them with valuable skills.

To donate to the project and for more information, please contact Winton Windell.

3. Innovation initiatives

4. Masccom

MASCCOM Training Centre is a unique upgrading centre for mathematics and the sciences. The centre offers learners a second opportunity to improve their mathematics and sciences and to gain that access in a one-year “repeat” CAPS-based programme. The centre is situated in the North West Province in Mahikeng and is run by the North West Department of Basic Education in partnership with the North-West University.

For more information contact Prof Marco le Roux

5. Xcel Programme

The Xcel-programme is a bridging programme in preparation for engineering studies. The programme is hosted on the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. The programme consists of two parts:

• Mathematics and Physical Science (Basic Education)
• University Subjects (Higher Education)
  • ALDE111 and ALDE121 (Academic Literacy Development)
  • CAD (Computer-Aided Design) and Programming

For more information contact Ms Elza Hattingh