R12m for black accountants
09 October 2008

The University of the Free State will get R12-million over the next four years from the Thuthuka Bursary Fund to train black students as chartered accountants, the university said.  Programme director of the Centre for Accounting at the UFS, Professor Hentie van Wyk, said the fund was managed by the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and was aimed at increasing the number of black students who obtain a Bachelor's degree in Accounting.

"The membership of the chartered accounting profession does not currently reflect the demographics of the country," Van Wyk said in a statement.  "The aim of the bursary fund is to straighten this imbalance." Van Wyk said the first intake of 50 first-year students would be in 2009. The bursary fund made provision for about R60 000 per student.

The amount would cover the student's class fees, residence fees, meals and the financing of tutors. Van Wyk said the centre would also make use of tutors and guest lecturers who would teach the students life skills, among others. "We especially want to focus on the training of students from the central region," he said.

Van Wyk said the UFS wanted to become a feeder institution of black chartered accountants for the business community in the central region of the country. Recruits for the programme would undergo a selection test and one of the prerequisites was that students must have a good mark in Mathematics. During the four years of studying students must get an average pass mark of 70 percent.

Sapa, http://business.iafrica.com