The Wits School of Chemistry received a donation of R600,000 today, to fund chemistry students' fees. The donation will also be used to fund the enrolment of new students and provide access to students who would otherwise be unable to afford university fees.
Prof. Loyiso Nongxa, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University commented: "It is with great appreciation that the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg accepts this donation on behalf of our students from Dow Chemical. This investment in the young talent of our country is precisely what South Africa needs to contribute towards the global knowledge economy."
Wits has been instrumental in promoting the study of chemistry to a broader base of South Africa with 73% of enrolled students coming from historically disadvantaged backgrounds. Half of all chemistry students are females, indicating that more females are becoming interested in a career in chemistry.
"We are very proud to support Wits University's excellent work in the field of chemistry while playing our part in opening up careers for more students. South Africa owes its strong manufacturing base to the skills and knowledge imparted by academic institutions like Wits - skills which are critical to the country's future competitiveness in this arena," said Stephane Paquier, President of Dow Africa.
While there is a skills shortage across the board in South Africa, skills in science, technology and engineering are especially lacking. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report for 2011-2012, while South Africa is ranked 46th in the world in terms of its capacity for innovation and 30th for quality of scientific research, this is not matched in terms of availability of scientists and engineers, which lags at 111 out of 142 countries.
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