Macmillan Education South Africa, as part of the Springer Nature group, was awarded a wonderful opportunity this year to be able to donate some money to people in need within South Africa. This money comes from the Springer Charitable Foundation and each year they select a different country around the world.

The objective of the Julius Springer Charitable Fund is to support people in need by means of financial donations. The requirement for the donations is that individuals who are in difficult situations (through no fault of their own) and who cannot be supported or sufficiently supported by the social welfare system or are unable to escape their current situation on their own should be the ones to benefit from the fund. Macmillan Education South Africa was allocated €25 000 (approximately R375 000).

A Charity Foundation was formed on a voluntary basis by employees of Macmillan Education South Africa and were tasked with finding worthy recipients of the allocated funds.

After thorough research and in-depth discussions, a decision was made to develop future ECD practitioners by providing ECD/Educare students with funding for one year of their studies at a TVET institution in South Africa during 2018. The scholarships are awarded based on financial need and include tuition and a contribution towards living expenses.

Through sponsoring the training of ECD practitioners, Macmillan Education South Africa can help them to earn a formal qualification, thus ensuring that the necessary skills are obtained, which will play a significant role in the formative years of at least 10 000 pre-school children.

The selection of the candidates was quite a lengthy process which included the establishment of selection criteria, the creation of application forms, the advertising of the scholarships widely, the shortlisting of candidates and the interviewing of the shortlisted candidates.

The Charity Foundation team processed and captured 167 applications of which 17 candidates from KwaZulu Natal, Pretoria, Free State, Limpopo and Gauteng were shortlisted.

Members of the Charity Foundation team interviewed and selected 14 candidates who will start with their studies at a TVET College at the beginning of 2018. Macmillan Education South Africa will support and mentor these students throughout 2018.