MATRICULANTS from 18 schools around Durban will write their accountancy exams with confidence after receiving tuition.

The initiative was facilitated by Deloitte Project Siyakhula of Deloitte and Touche.

More than 100 pupils received tuition to prepare them for the accountancy exams.

The training is now in its ninth year.

Innocentia Mngadi of Chatsworth Secondary School is this year's top pupil in the Siyakhula examination. She scored 73 percent for her accounting exam.

She has been provisionally accepted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal to study for an accounting degree next year.

"I am excited and grateful for the opportunity. It will go a long way in preparing us for the exams," she said.

Mngadi will apply to Deloitte for a bursary.

Nerisha Haricharan, audit manager at the company, said it was gratifying to see pupils joining the programme grow in knowledge and confidence.

"Once they are part of the programme, we assist them in accountancy and also with the process of applying for a bursary to study at university. We also encourage them to apply for training contracts. Later, these same pupils will become trainees and hopefully grow to become partners and leaders within a professional services firm," she said.

The project is made possible through trainee accountants and other professionals at Deloitte and Touche who volunteer their services.

Haricharan said the objective of Siyakhula is to instil and sustain a culture of learning and also to assist teachers with difficult sections.