JB Marks Education Trust Fund is offering financial assistance for bright-minded South African students who are pursuing an undergraduate degree in the region.
ScholarlyAfrica.com brings you this exciting funding opportunity for your undergraduate studies.
The JB Marks Education Trust Fund Bursary
The JB Marks Education Trust Fund Bursary is an all-inclusive programme that welcomes people of all different backgrounds.
We receive funding from various parties. Initially, the Mineworkers Investment Trust provided most of the money, thanks to support from the Mineworkers Investment Company. Today, as a non-profit public benefit organisation (PBO Section 18A), we receive funding from additional sources. We embrace like-minded partners and engage in a wide range of fund-raising activities.
Our PBO status ensures that donors – individuals and organisations – qualify for a tax rebate on the amount donated to the Trust.
As an awardee, you will be provided with the necessary support to chase after your academic qualification. If you display exemplary academic scores and valuable qualities as a student, you are more than encouraged to give this opportunity a shot.
As a registered Trust, we have a duty to ensure funds are used effectively and in accordance with our stated mission. Funding may therefore be declined if a course of study falls outside our mandate.
A bursary is valid for the duration of the course of study, but in certain circumstances our trustees can withhold payments to institutions and even terminate the bursary.
For example, a bursary is terminated if a student abandons the course of study within six months of enrolment or fails a level.
Funding will continue until the selected course of study is completed as an undergraduate degree or diploma without failing a level. Should a student receive financial aid or a bursary from another source, the Trust will terminate the bursary.
What the bursary covers
Our fund gives financial support to those who otherwise could not afford a proper education leading to professional qualification and fulfilling careers, chiefly in the mining and related sectors.We provide bursaries. You provide commitment and dedication.
We pay for:Â registration, tuition, exams, textbooks, extra lessons by tutors, meals, accommodation, capacity-building programmes
We also pay for full-time and part-time correspondence courses.
We help as many bursars as possible, depending on fund availability. Usually, about 250 students a year receive support (200 undergraduates and 50 postgraduates).
Who should apply?
Historically, our fund assisted members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), dependants, immediate family, retrenched members and retirees..
Those parameters have been significantly widened through partnership funding to cover all those connected to the mining, energy and constructor sectors who wish to use education for personal and family empowerment, but face financial constraints. This is limited to funding received.
South Africans are the principal beneficiaries, but we also help those from the wider region.
Our goal is to enable better education, better opportunities and a better life.
In special cases, we help learners from grades 10 to 12, but we focus mainly on students working toward degrees and other qualifications at universities, colleges and technikons.
How to apply
Undergraduate Studies
Our applications are open from the second (2nd) week of March and close on the first (1st) of July every year. Only individuals who are currently NOT funded and who meet the selection criteria may apply. Application forms are available at your nearest NUM branch and as well as online: JB Marks Online Application Form.
The following supporting documentation is required with every application (manual and online), should the applicant fail to produce ALL the supporting documentation required, their application will not be considered:
- Union members payslip (for verification purposes).
- Certified copy of applicant’s latest school results.
- Certified ID copies of both the applicant and the union member.
- Acceptance letter from the tertiary institution or letter verifying your application with the institution.
Please remember, we do not accept e-mailed applications. Successful applicants will be contacted by the JB Marks office through an acceptance letter addressed to the applicant’s e-mail/ physical/ postal address. A list of successful applicants will also be sent to the NUM branches, nation-wide.
If an applicant does not receive correspondence from the office of JB Marks Education Trust Fund by the end of December, it means that the application was unsuccessful.
The best efforts are made by the office of JB Marks Education Trust Fund to ensure that successful applicants are informed, we therefore urge all applicants to clearly state the address (e-mail, residential or postal) of where they would like letter to be addressed. Furthermore, applicants are advised to frequently be on the lookout for the response from JB Marks office between the stipulated dates.
Postgraduate Studies
The bursary is available on a first-come-first-serve basis due to limited funds; and only to beneficiaries who have just graduated as JB Marks beneficiaries and continues to be available to graduates for a period not exceeding 2 years after their undergrad graduation.
The bursary is limited to critical fields of study as defined and approved by the Board of Trustees.
Applications are open from the last week of August to the last week of November annually.
To apply, graduates must send an extensive motivation of up to 1000 words and their academic record to the Professional Development Officer at [email protected]
Closing dates
- 1 July 2022 for undergraduate applicants
- 30 November 2022 for postgraduate applicants
Start the application process here: https://jbmarksedutrust.co.za/index.php/online-bursary-application/
Bursary source: https://jbmarksedutrust.co.za/index.php/market-sectors/about-the-fund/
