1. The Western Cape Provincial Treasury, in collaboration with Nedbank and WCED, invites schools to enter for the 2010 Western Cape Bursary Competition, an essay-writing competition.
2. The Bursary Competition offers Grade 11 learners in the province taking a combination of Economics, Mathematics and Accounting as subjects, the opportunity of obtaining bursaries and other incentives to further their studies in these fields at a university.
3. Twelve bursaries, as well as a cash prize as financial assistance during their Grade 12 year, will be awarded to learners who intend obtaining a degree in Economics (e.g. B Comm [Economics]), Accounting (e.g. B Acc, B Compt), Commerce (e.g. B Bus Science) or Mathematics at a South African university.
4. The bursaries are for Grade 11 learners who excel (minimum level of 60%) in at least two of the subjects Economics, Mathematics and Accounting, and who qualify for entrance to a university in 2012. Entrants must be South African citizens who have a good command of spoken and written English.
5. The bursary competition aims to
  • promote enthusiasm for Economics, Mathematics and Accounting, and career possibilities;
  • develop knowledge and skills in Economics, Mathematics, and Accounting;
  • develop problem-solving and analytical abilities;
  • expose learners to research methodology and essay-writing skills;
  • provide learners with access and links to the world of work;
  • raise awareness of socio-economic issues in SA;
  • encourage and reward excellence; and
  • develop future leaders in the fields of economics, mathematics and accounting.
6. The time frame for this bursary competition is from March 2010 to March 2011.
7. Refer to the attached Addendum A for the essay topic (supplied only in English).
8. Refer to the attachments for the following:
9. Schools should choose learners to participate in the competition. They will be required to write an essay of approximately 2 200 words. The rest of the Grade 11 Economics class may write an essay on the same topic to a maximum of 500 words.
10. A team of teachers at the school will use the assessment grid provided to choose the top three performers who fulfil the minimum requirement of 70% (essay and oral presentations combined) to go through to the next round of the competition. The essays and mark sheets of the top three performers and of all other learners who achieved above 70% must be submitted to the education district office for assessment at Level 2 (District level) by no later than 8 October 2010.
11. An assessment panel in each education district will assess the qualifying essays from schools and choose the finalists. The 10 best essays per district will be chosen by this panel and sent through to the final level (provincial level) by 22 November 2010.
12. The twenty best essays will be chosen by the final selection panel, consisting of representatives of Nedbank, the Provincial Treasury and the WCED.
13. A maximum of fifteen finalists will be invited to attend the final selection in Cape Town in March 2011 - on the Friday afternoon and Saturday just before the Provincial Budget Speech. They will be required to make an oral presentation on their research findings and to respond to questions put to them by the selection panel. The Economics teachers of the finalists will be invited to accompany them. The education district panel members will be nvited to attend the awards ceremony on the Saturday.
14. Principals are requested to bring the contents of this minute to the attention of all Grade 11 Economics, Mathematics, Accounting and Life Orientation teachers.


SIGNED: BK SCHREUDER
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2010:03:30

Addendum A: Subjects for essays  (size: 12 KB)
Entryform  (size: 44 KB)
Assessment grid  (size: 95 KB)
Guidelines for good essay writing  (size: 161 KB)