Tumelo Mashigo was the top matric learner at Muriel Brand School and the second-best learner nationally in the Learners with Special Education Needs category.
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has created an opportunity for three top achievers from the matric Class of 2017 to further their education at a university by donating R150 000 towards their studies, African Reporter reports.
The donation will go to the top students in the Learners with Special Education Needs category.
READ MORE: SAHRC wants audit of all special needs schools in North West
This follows a request by the Department of Basic Education to the RAF, one of its key stakeholders, to partner with the department in this initiative.
“RAF’s donation is in keeping with the fund’s corporate social responsibility and rehabilitation strategy of supporting vulnerable groupings,” said RAF chief strategy officer Mantiti Kola.
The donation takes into account the level of support required to enable different learners in the special needs category to perform at their best at university level. Each package will consist of assistive or rehabilitative devices or equipment designed to help the learner perform educational tasks to the best of their ability.
“The rehabilitative devices will compensate for any form of functional limitation which makes it difficult for the learners, who have disabilities, to access the curriculum.”
Kola said the RAF was proud of the learners.
“We wish them well in their academic endeavours and trust our support will help improve their lives.”
Tumelo Mashigo from Tsakane was raised by a single mother and has defied numerous odds and physical challenges.
He was the top learner for 2017 at Muriel Brand School, a school for the physically challenged.
He also obtained second spot nationally in the Learners with Special Education Needs category.
Mashigo was born with phocomelia, a rare congenital deformity in which the hands are attached close to the trunk, with the limbs being grossly underdeveloped.
In recognition of his achievement, the RAF has donated a R50 000 support package which will go towards assistive devices for his tertiary education.
Mashigo is pursuing a BA in public management and international relations at the University of Pretoria.
https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/sahrc-wants-audit-of-all-special-needs-schools-in-nwest/
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