For the last three years, and again in 2018, speakers at the annual African Renaissance Festival have promoted the opportunities that are available to students and scholars through obtaining bursaries and scholarships to study at international institutions around the world.

Every year, a large number of foreign governments, organisations and universities offer funding to scholars and students to study internationally through a wide variety of programmes.

Many students are not aware of the bursary options that are available and often the available bursaries are not utilised each year. These bursaries range from full to partial support for the completion of short courses, undergraduate degrees and diplomas, to masters and doctorate degrees.

The United Kingdom, the United States of America, Japan, Belgium, Hungary, China, Poland, Mauritius and India are examples of just a few of the countries that have bursaries available to South African students.

To promote an awareness and improve access to these opportunities, the KZN International Scholarships
and Exchange Programme was launched in 2016. This programme was a result of a cooperation between the African Renaissance Committee, the KZN Provincial Government, the KZN Education Department, eThekwini Municipality and the Diplomatic Corps in KwaZulu-Natal.

A major goal of the project is to encourage students to study and extend their working experience beyond South African borders to promote the exchange of ideas and empower our citizens to become more competitive in the global economy. The opportunity to study internationally offers an excellent opportunity for students to grow academically, professionally and personally.

Each scholarship on offer has its own entry requirements and eligibility criteria and is often dependent on admission to a university. Please note that a high standard of academic achievement is required, as obtaining a bursary is extremely competitive due to the huge demand for these funds.

While some of the programme are offered in the medium of English, others require that the student is proficient in the language of instruction and generally an additional year of study in this language of instruction is required.

Competence in the language is then a precondition for further studies to commence. Students must also be willing to live in a different cultural environment, with different norms and values from South African culture.

The amount of financial support offered varies greatly. Please check that any bursary applied for meets all your needs i.e.: tuition, accommodation and meals, travel, transport, medical cover etc.

We encourage all students to work hard at their studies to be eligible to apply for and take advantage of the many opportunities available to study on the global platform. This is an experience that should not be missed.

Kindly note that the KZN Office of the Premier and its partners in this programme are only facilitators of information to you and are in no way responsible for giving out these bursaries.

We urge you to visit the website links at www.kznyis.org.za and join the conversations on social media.