With a view to further developing managerial capacity within South Africa, the Institute of Directors (IoD) has increased its bursary funding to the UCT Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) in 2008 and pledged to continue its funding for a further three years.
The funding will help financially disadvantaged individuals – especially young and emerging managers who are in need of an effective management toolkit - to study at one of the country's leading business schools.
The IoD has for the past three years sponsored the studies of previously disadvantaged students on the school's Associate in Management (AIM) and Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PDBA) courses as part of its Future Leadership Development Program. Since 2006, the funding has helped 75 students study at the UCT GSB.
This year, increased funding means that the IoD will sponsor the educational costs of selected students on the business school's Master in Business Administration (MBA) program for the first time as well.
Linda Ronnie, Director of the AIM and PDBA programs that cater for young and emerging managers, said the funding will go a long way to creating a more diverse management arena in South Africa in the years to come.
“We are extremely pleased that the IoD has decided to expand its funding this year. Their bursaries will afford many more talented students the opportunity to take advantage of one of the world-class educational offerings here at the UCT GSB,” said Ronnie.
“All of the recipients of these bursaries meet the business school's stringent entrance requirements and have gained a place on our programs based entirely on their own merit,” explained Ronnie. “Without these bursaries, however, they would have been unable to further develop their skills due to a lack of funding. This is the great tragedy facing many of our country's talented young professionals today.”
According to Professor Frank Horwitz, Director of the UCT GSB, the IoD bursary initiative is boosting management capacity in South Africa.
“The dire shortage of management skills within our country has been well publicised and each year the IoD bursaries go another step towards addressing this problem,” said Horwitz.
He added that courses like the Associate in Management are particularly helpful in this regard as they enable the shift away from a specialised field into general business administration and equip individuals who are new to management with the fundamental skills and knowledge necessary for effective business administration and leadership.
“We would like to encourage all those who feel they could benefit from this career development but cannot access funding to speak to our admissions department as soon as possible to find out if they qualify for this program and funding,” said Horwitz.
The IoD in Southern Africa was established in 1960 and provides internationally recognised director development and corporate governance education programs for continuing development and life-long learning. It has a prestigious membership representing a diversity of business leaders and provides a unique opportunity for networking and business development in all spheres of business.
Steven Rosendorff, Chairman of the IoD's Educational Trust Fund, said that the IoD was excited about being able to extend its Future Leadership Development (FLD) Program for another three years until 2011 and to include the MBA.
“The FLD aims to develop and enhance the management capacity of previously disadvantaged individuals in order to help address the management needs of our country. We at the IoD are also dedicated to promoting good corporate governance and a high skills level. We feel that the UCT GSB is the perfect partner to help us achieve these aims and we look forward to continuing this collaboration for years to come,” said Rosendorff.
The UCT GSB will be hosting a special Open Evening for its Associate in Management program on 20 February at 18:30 at its Breakwater Campus in Portswood Road, Greenpoint. Members of the public will be able to find out more about this offering as well as the IoD bursaries at this event.
For details on the IoD bursaries and how to apply for the various academic offerings, contact the UCT GSB Admissions Department on 021 406 1338/9.
For more information contact Melanie Blythe on 021 465 9568 or email .
