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Business Reporter
Stanbic Bank has partnered Nduna Zimbabwe Trust to provide support for the underprivileged high achieving students who are currently on the financial institution’s bursary programme.
The partnership will ensure the beneficiaries of the bursary programme get a full complement of their educational needs from financial requirements as well as the provision of psychosocial support, career guidance amongst other key needs as they pursue their academic studies.
Speaking at the handover event, Nduna Zimbabwe Trust Director, Farai Mpofu, expressed great hope in the new partnership with Stanbic Bank.
“We are grateful that Stanbic Bank is among the first corporates to embrace our initiative of committing to the education of students as we provide the interface between corporates and beneficiaries,” said Mr Mpofu.
“The bank is greatly impacting the lives of these young students and we are excited to complement their efforts in the best way we can”, she added.
Stanbic head of Private and Personal Banking, Patson Mahatchi, said the institution was committed to take its bursary programme a step further for greater impact and support of students.
“We are grateful to Nduna Zimbabwe Trust for joining us in our endeavour to bring out the best in these students by monitoring their academic performance and supporting them on a less formal and more social and psychological level”, said Mr Mahatchi.
Nduna Zimbabwe Trust supports initiatives that promote better livelihoods and enhance dignity and quality of life for marginalised and disadvantaged persons and communities.
As part of this partnership, six students from the country’s leading tertiary institutions were beneficiaries of state-of-the-art laptops purchased by Stanbic Bank as additional support.
Mr Mahatchi said the purchase of the laptops is in line with Stanbic Bank’s parent company – Standard Bank Group’s key strategic drive of focusing on sustainability “to help the students achieve their set goals without unnecessary limitations”.
He said the number of students under the programme has grown significantly since the launch of the bursary support programme and that the financial institution had witnessed some of their beneficiaries graduating as engineers, medical doctors, and accountants.
Amongst the beneficiaries who graduated is an engineer who is now a successful entrepreneur and another who is now a medical Doctor, currently doing his residency at Chitungwiza Central Hospital.
Mr Mahatchi said Stanbic’s role as part of the foundational pillar of education will only be complete when the young academics graduate to become avid professionals, which is why the institution decided to take a step further from just providing tuition and residence fees.
Online Reporter