The Beyers Naudé Schools Development Programme (BNSDP) by the Kagiso Trust is not only limited to assist pupils at school level, but is also committed to help deserving students to further their studies at universities.

Speaking at the launch at Sehlaku Secondary School in Driekop, Burgersfort, Kagiso Trust chief operations officer Themba Mola said the BNSDP was committed to help deserving students at universities.

"Our students who performed well at school and are interested in furthering their studies at universities, especially in engineering, are given an opportunity to do so through our Eric Molobi Scholarship Programme (EMSP). We work closely with universities and NSFAS to ensure they are successful," Mola said.

Mola said they also have a basic infrastructure programme in place aimed at ensuing schools are functional in terms of, among other things, ablutions and sanitation. The programme also responds to curriculum-related infrastructure like computers.

"We ensure that learning and the environment is conducive to learners. We also try to deal with the problem of overcrowding at schools." Mola touched on incentives to encourage teachers and pupils to achieve quality results.

"We say to the schools: 'demonstrate your commitment to improve learners' results and if you improve to this regard we will incentivise you with infrastructure'. We set a stretched benchmark of 80% because we know our schools can perform better.

"We have schools in Qwaqwa [in the Free State] who performed well beyond 90%, so it's possible for other schools to do the same."

Mola said they always prioritise community members when it comes to building facilities at schools.

"We don't look elsewhere for expensive companies . but in the communities where the schools are.

"We will only rope in qualified engineers to oversee the process . We create jobs for parents of the learners through the infrastructure programmes," added the Kagiso Trust COO.

Brought to you by Kagiso Trust and Limpopo Department of Education