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CSI
July 21, 2022

PPS Foundation scales up support for students beyond financial aid

Provision of mental wellbeing services prioritised

The PPS Foundation has stepped up its efforts to provide tertiary students with assistance beyond financial aid. “We believe that our beneficiaries should focus on doing their best academically. This is why we pride ourselves on the holistic approach when it comes to the support we provide to students directly or through organisations we partner with. We also prioritised mental wellness, especially following the disruptive impact of the past two years of the pandemic,” says Masenyane Molefe, Executive Trustee of the PPS Foundation.

Like many aspects of our lives, COVID-19 has changed the face of learning. According to the 2021 Student Confidence Index (SCI) survey involving 3 304 participants, 41% of the respondents felt that they battled with no contact during the hard lockdown. About 30% felt more anxious, and 34% found the shift to e-learning challenging. The survey was conducted by PPS.

Taking the lead from the findings of the SCI, the PPS Foundation partnered with Reality Wellness Group to assist bursary holders in managing their emotional wellbeing through one-on-one counselling and online and physical support. The aim was to help them cope better with stress, loss and grief. 

Through working with Rise Against Hunger Africa (RAHA), students at various public tertiary institutions received meal support. Since the relationship was fostered in 2017, the partnership with RAHA has grown from strength to strength to combat food insecurity, an issue many in the student community face.

Added to the pandemic strain, South Africa experienced violent civil unrest in July last year Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal the worst hit with incidents of looting. Through rapid intervention, the PPS Foundation was able to address emergencies by making urgent funding accessible to assist some students in KwaZulu-Natal.

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The PPS Foundation’s flagship initiative is its bursary programme. In the 2021 year under review, through new agreements with PPS Healthcare Administrators and Accredited Resource Consulting Services, respectively, the bursary programme was expanded when the PPS Foundation administered bursaries on these organisations’ behalf. This enabled the PPS Foundation to increase the number of bursaries awarded to 78 students as well as clear some students’ historical debt. Having the historical debt paid off is a heavy burden lifted off the beneficiaries’ shoulders, knowing that when they qualify, they will be able to concentrate on uplifting their lives along with their family and communities.

Commenting following the release of the PPS Foundation’s 2021 Annual Report today, Molefe says providing bursaries speaks to their vision of supporting students’ transition from high school through their years in tertiary education. After completing their studies, the students and recent graduate professionals need the knowledge and skills to make them employable and empower them to be economically independent sooner rather than later. This is done through the Learned, Engaged, Accelerated Professionals (LEAP) Work-Readiness Programme and the Graduate Internship Development Programme.

There can be nothing more rewarding than seeing someone experience a eureka moment. Students that go through PPS Foundation LEAP Work-Readiness Programme often get the “aha” moment when they discover how to compile their CVs, apply for jobs and ace a job interview. This initiative helps graduates leap forward. 

To help more students smoothly transition to work-life, PPS Foundation and Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (ISFAP) have partnered to assist graduates in increasing their employment chances. 

Another way beneficiaries can start their careers is through the PPS Graduate Internship Development Programme (GIDP). Even though the outlook for many organisations was not that great following a challenging 2021, PPS was able to hire the graduate interns that joined that year regardless of the tough economic climate. As of the end of 2021, 140 young graduates have completed the GIDP. Of these, 80% have been offered full-time employment at PPS. 

“All these efforts are aimed at aiding students and young professionals with the necessary skills, tools and mechanisms to contribute towards the development of a better South Africa. We also seek to continuously support the imperative of reducing youth unemployment by providing recently graduated youth with an opportunity to benefit from comprehensive training, gain valuable work experience and develop soft skills for now and the future,” Molefe concludes. 

The PPS Foundation is a public benefit organisation that belongs to the Professional Provident Society (PPS), a financial services company focused exclusively on providing the right financial solutions to graduate professionals.

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