Students in South Africa should be well aware that bursary schemes; such as the Transnet bursaries for example, or other schemes are not only incredibly common but amongst the best ways in the country to afford a college education. Many employers, large to small, provide bursary schemes which will in many cases pay for the entirety of a student’s education, but these programs are normally incredibly competitive. A good example of such a program comes from the Transnet bursary in South Africa provided by Transnet, a large company that some South Africans may be readily aware of. This company is the largest freight line logistics specialists in South Africa offering freight rail themselves, rail line engineering programs, operations of port authorities and various pipelines around the country transporting things like fuel or gas.
Because of their general operations it should not be surprising to students that the Transnet bursary scheme looks heavily for engineers, though IT degree seekers and most customer oriented students can look to this program for potential sources of funding as well. Like many other bursary providers, students who receive bursaries at Transnet will be required to work with the company after graduation, so this agreement will need to be seriously considered by all potential applicants. If a student does not really have much interest in this particular field it would be unwise to pursue a degree in it, much less apply for a bursary. Beyond this, because of the competitiveness of the program, students without a real zeal for the profession will likely be easily identified and left without funding.
The Transnet bursary, like many of its counterparts from different companies, pays for just about everything. To this end, tuition for school will be completely covered, living arrangements and meals are paid for, an allowance for books is available, and a computer can be paid for should the second year of education require one. Transnet bursaries also offer another benefit that is not as common in similar programs until graduation – it provides students with experiential training along the way allowing students to not only get a greater amount of use out of the overall bursary but gain a few extras to pad their resumes. Students who are awarded a Transnet bursary may decide on which South African university they will attend and have the added option of attending a technical university instead. Allowing for a diversity of fields, Transnet bursaries cover students interested in engineering with regards to industrial, electrical, mechanical, and civil work while also providing for those students interested in metallurgy.
Throughout the course of the application process, selected students will be interviewed, reviewed for academic success and assessed for medical fitness. Students who do not meet acceptable standards in any of these situations will not be eligible for the program.
Transnet bursaries are available to all South African citizens who are able to meet basic qualifying standards as set privately by the company and are interested in pursuing one of the above listed fields. As students progress in their academic studies, reward amounts will be renewed so long as academic success is an ongoing fact. Students who fail courses along the way will have to retake them at a cost to themselves, as taking a class over will not be covered by the Transnet bursary scheme. If a student continues to perform badly, Transnet reserves the right to consult with the student’s university to assess future possibilities of academic success and, if the assessment is poor, end the bursary scheme while requiring full repayment of all distributed funds. It is for this reason above all others that students who apply to the bursaires at Transnet, and others like it, perform well in school, refusing to let themselves slip along the way.
When vacation from university studies occurs, students will be able to pick up work in June-July and December through January. This additional work will give students important on the ground training and give them a heads up on the field they are entering, enabling them to learn more about their profession as they develop their skills in school. The Transnet bursaries in South Africa are comprehensive programs and one of the top level bursary schemes in the country and coveted by many serious students.
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