University education for gifted sportsmen & women

University education is an ideal level of education for all individuals, especially in SA where there’s a lack of qualified professionals. This problem is growing to a great extent as tertiary education becomes more and more inaccessible. Furthermore, many who manage to enter a tertiary institution end up dropping out. This can be due to a number of factors, including stress from poor coping mechanisms, etc. More importantly, university drop out rates are increased exponentially by lack of funds.

Many students face financial exclusion from universities. Some are unable to remain in residence near university, while others carry heavy travel costs. Some students are even unable to buy books. Many reasons can be listed regarding finance, but they all impact on whether or not one can finish one’s degree. Many students, including me, apply for bursaries, scholarships and study loans, and many of us are declined, resulting in stress and a fear of not being able to finish our studies.

With all these reasons affecting the dropout rate, it is clear that lack of finance is one of the leading causes.

My solution:

Many individuals are gifted with different sporting abilities. Therefore, my solution to help reduce the university dropout (due to one’s financial burden) is to introduce sports bursaries to secure one’s university education.

What this entails:

Various sporting codes can be introduced into many communities, especially those without sports facilities. Training can be offered and competitions can be run at school, all the way up to national level, allowing pupils to engage in different sporting codes. From there, they can then be selected and awarded bursaries for university while continuing playing for either a local, national or university team in their respective sporting code. This also includes various athletic competitions.

Universities, national and local teams as well as private sponsors will be approached to fund the bursaries with the benefit of obtaining talented individuals who will be playing for their teams. Funds can also be raised, for example, from marathons or soccer matches, where the public pay to enter or spectate.

This will not only help students with their university funding, but provide opportunities for communities to assist in helping to educate their children. At the same time, it will encourage South African communities to lead healthier lifestyles, and prevent diseases like diabetes and obesity caused by lack of activity and unhealthy eating habits.