Miss South Africa Natasha Joubert has announced the launch of her advocacy campaign, which will financially uplift more than 20 students.
Joubert’s campaign, an education initiative in partnership with the Boston City Campus, will see 12 deserving students awarded scholarships, as part of the Natasha Joubert Collective. This will form part of the reigning Miss SA’s advocacy campaign worth more than R1.5 million in bursaries to assist 27 student beneficiaries.
Commenting on the initiative, Joubert who is passionate about entrepreneurship and education said that she was fulfilling her pledge to devote herself to the two causes during her reign.
She said: “Education should never be a privilege limited to the fortunate few. We have 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.”
“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 finance. That’s why I decided to focus on education.”
A spokesperson for Miss SA said Joubert’s affiliation with her alma mater, Boston City Campus, meant that 12 South African students 18 years or older stood a chance to receive full one-year academic scholarships to study at the school.
The scholarship is for distance e-learning studies towards a full-time undergraduate qualification starting in 2024.
“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, financial planning, business management, marketing and paralegal practices,” Joubert said.
Boston City Campus public relations head Natalie Rabson said: “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 will allow our learners to create empowering beliefs and recommit with greater determination to achieve goals.”
Study Buddy Fund communications and sustainability manager Nozicelo Ngcobo said: “Given the current challenges of youth unemployment in the country, 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.”
In addition to announcing news of Joubert’s campaign, the Miss SA organisation revealed that it had partnered with the Study Buddy Fund to grant other less privileged students the opportunity to access higher education.
It stated that The Study Buddy Fund had allocated R500 000 to fund approximately 15 students at the Boston City Campus.
“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,” Joubert said.
For more information on how to apply, visit www.boston.ac.za for one of the listed qualifications. Entries are open and close on January 15, 2024.
nomalanga.tshuma@inl.co.za