Scholarship gives city girl chance to shine
Alex Smith
Grade 10 scholar Lwandi Bini lives opposite the Noord
Street taxi rank in the Joburg CBD, and has to study
next to a noisy shebeen, but believes in herself and
knows that she is destined for more in life, thanks to her
SSP high school scholarship.
Student Sponsorship Programme (SSP) is a
scholarship programme for gifted children in Grade 6
with top marks in English, Maths and Science from
disadvantaged families.
Lwandi studied at Johannesburg Polytech Institute in
Doornfontein when her maths teacher gave her an
application form for the SSP scholarship.
Her father is a limo driver and her mother helps with
bookings and sells moringa to bring in extra funds.
She also has a brother in boarding in Pretoria and a
younger sister, who will apply for the SSP scholarship
this year, as she is in Grade 6.
Once Lwandi was given the scholarship, she was
afforded an opportunity to complete her high school at
Kingsmead College in Rosebank; a far cry from the
government schools she attended previously.
“I was the short girl that did not speak,” Lwandi
shares, “It’s a safe environment at Kingsmead. Going to
a private school has meant having to adjust to the
learning system, but the school made it easier for me to
adjust. That stereotype that you are a scholarship child,
they don’t have that here.”
Lwandi now plays tennis. “I always dreamt of playing
tennis, and take traditional dance as an extramural. I am
also a library monitor where I make sure everything is
in order.”
About her plans after school she says she wants to get
into psychology and learn more about the mind.
SSP scholarship applications are open for Grade 6
learners. Visit www.ssp.org.za to find more.