By the end of this year, Cokile will, indeed, be among the graduates at the Damelin College Braamfontein after she managed to complete her diploma in journalism, despite her penurious background and following a frantic period when she was racing against the clock as outstanding fees could have prevented her from writing her third-year final examinations for the second time in a row.
Her father had no money to pay off her outstanding fees of R36 000. The 22-year-old student was born in the township of Walmer, Port Elizabeth. At home, she has three siblings, a brother and two sisters. Her father, who works as a driver for the Nelson Mandela Municipality, is the only breadwinner and her unemployed mother suffers from arthritis and has been looking for specialists to help her with her condition.
Last year, Cokile was in distress as she watched her classmates graduating because she couldn’t write her final paper as her father could not afford to pay her fees. She had to drop out on the eve of her examinations.
“I reached a point in my life where I was forced go back home, but I refused because I had hope that things would go back to normal. I am very persistent and dedicated to whatever I do and… [I] push very hard for my studies. I never give up,” she insisted.
Hearing of her situation, Caxton Newspapers reporter, Aphiwe Boyce, wrote two articles appealing to Samaritans for help and a few individuals donated some cash – but to Cokile’s huge surprise, the biggest chunk came from Damelin College who were proud to offer her a full bursary worth over R30 000 to complete her diploma, including her final year tuition fee. Damelin’s national campus manager Kapil Jaggeth said, “I am incredibly impressed by the effort, the will and drive of the student to pursue her studies successfully despite so many obstacles and challenges she has faced along the way. She could have easily given up and returned to PE and looked for a job as a waitress to help her father, however, she continued to persevere, so that she can take herself and her family out of the vicious cycle of poverty and to a make progressive step into a better life. We are humbled by her tenacity and proud to have Damelin assist her and her family.”
Jaggeth said Damelin is a multi-award winning brand with 17 campuses throughout the country, each campus has a bursary budget in line with the CSI strategy for the group. Each request for a bursary is evaluated based on the needs of the individual student. If approved, a bursary is allocated.
He said, “We also give away various bursaries throughout the year, in line with promotional activities that we host. Even before the student fees must fall saga, Damelin has long since understood the pressure that fees put on parents, account payers, and students, and for this reason, we have always afforded our students and parents, the opportunity to tailor or extend payment plans.”
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