The company has been donating funds to major universities in South Africa since 1966. At present support is given to universities in the three major centres where the company has a presence.
In 2002, the company decided to put a socio-economic initiative in place as part of the social responsibility programme and a Bursary Fund was launched to offer educational assistance to disadvantaged students who are awarded bursaries according to financial need as well as academic performance. In line with key national priorities, the current focus of educational assistance is the teaching of maths and science at South African schools.
Statistics from the Education Ministry revealed that South Africa needs both schools and higher education institutions to focus on maths, science and technology. In order to address this, the National Strategy for Mathematics, Science and Technology was introduced and one of the objectives of the strategy was to introduce more bursaries for maths, science and technology educators.
The company decided to focus educational assistance on tertiary students who are studying towards a BTech (Education Science) with majors in mathematics and physical science.
Zurich is contracted to the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) to administer the funds that are disbursed in respect of fees, accommodation and books for each of the selected students. The SAIRR’s bursary programme is designed to enable corporate organisations, like us to offer educational assistance in an impactful yet cost-effective way.
The SAIRR administers the bursaries from advertising, through selection and personal counselling of bursars. A stringent selection process is adhered to and student counsellors interview bursary holders twice in each academic year to discuss progress as well as any other problems that might affect that progress. Student progress reports are presented to the company twice a year.
This initiative is tremendously uplifting for us as it enables the Company, as a corporate citizen, to help people to contribute to the growth and development of our country and the well-being of its people, specifically in the field of education.
