Standard Bank Namibia has awarded bursaries to four students from the Namibia University of Science and Technology; the University of the Free State and Stellenbosch University.
The beneficiaries are Muningandu Tjingaete and Petros Kambinda, who are second and third year cyber security students at NUST; Namalwa Amakali who is a second year Bachelor’s in Forensic Science student at the University of the Free State; as well as Lara Bartholomae, a first year actuarial science student at Stellenbosch University.
A statement issued by the bank’s Head of Marketing, Communications and Corporate Social Investment, Magreth Mengo said their bursary programme is geared towards training Namibia’s future leaders who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to realise their potential.
“Our bursary programme is designed in a way that it gives academically gifted students from all backgrounds the opportunity to study at any regional university of their choice so that they can help contribute to the growth of our country and economy,” she said.
Also speaking during the handing over ceremony was the bank’s Head of Human Resources, Isdor Angula, who said employment at the ‘blue bank’ is almost guaranteed for the bursary recipients.
“A number of previous recipients didn’t take advantage of the opportunity from Standard Bank and they redirected the funds from the bank to socialising and ended up failing. The bursary conditions are clear, you will forfeit the bursary if you fail,” Angula said.
The bursary scheme agreement includes tuition fees and all living expenses, including a monthly allowance, accommodation costs and four flights per year for students studying outside the country.