Every year, the government offers sponsorship to vulnerable students that are eligible so that they can attend college or university. This sponsorship comes in the form of scholarships, student loans, CDF bursaries and TEVET bursaries. In this blog, we are going to discuss TEVET bursaries to try and shed more light on this somewhat lesser-known form of government sponsorship.
To understand what TEVET bursaries are all about, we first need to know the meanings of TEVETA and TEVET Institution. Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA) is a body under the Ministry of Technology and Science (MoTS) that regulates, monitors and coordinates technical education, vocational and entrepreneurship training in Zambia. Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) Institutions are simply tertiary schools that are accredited to TEVETA. Most of these schools are skills and trades training institutes but some of them are colleges and institutes of applied sciences, technology, engineering and business. TEVET institutions are not under the ministry of education like the other colleges and universities. They are under the ministry of technology and science. Some well-known TEVET institutions in the country are Evelyn Hone College, Northern Technical College (Nortec), Kabwe Institute of Technology (KIT), Technical and Vocational Teachers College (TVTC) and all the Trades schools. You can find a full list of TEVET institutions and the courses they offer on the MoTS website.
Now that it’s clear what TEVETA and TEVET institutions are, we can go on to talk about the TEVET bursary scheme. TEVET bursaries are government sponsorship that is offered to vulnerable students that are not able to pay school fees for them to access skills training at trade, craft, certificate, diploma or degree level. These bursaries are offered under the ministry of technology and science by the TEVET Bursaries Committee. The bursary is a grant and does not need to be paid back. It covers 100% of the tuition fees, boarding fees and examination fees all of which are paid to the institution directly. Once you are awarded this bursary, all you would need to pay for by yourself are just school requirements such as books, workshop attire and other personal needs.
To be eligible for this bursary you need to meet the following requirements:
- Must be Zambian with Green National Registration Cards (NRC);
- Must possess an Admission or Acceptance letter from any of the TEVET institutions under Ministry of Technology and Science
- Must possess any of the following qualifications:
- Grade 12 School Certificate or GCE five O-levels or equivalent for those applying for (Craft/Certificate, Technician/ Advanced Certificate, Technologist/ Diploma and Degree Programmes)
- Grade 9 Certificate or Grade 7 Certificate for those applying for Trade Test Programmes
- Must be assessed by social welfare officers in the district where you live and meet the vulnerability criteria to obtain a copy of an electronic social welfare vulnerability status report.
- Must be 25 years old or younger or; 35 years or below for differently abled persons.
The call to apply for these bursaries is usually made around November – December each year. This means that if you want to apply for the bursary, it’s better to have all the requirements ready by October. To start with, you need to apply for admission at a TEVET institution and obtain an acceptance or admission letter. Thereafter, you need to collect a bursary application form from the same school where you have been accepted. After this, you will need to go to your district social welfare department where they will assess you and give you a social welfare report. You can also prepare other documents that support your vulnerability such as death certificates of deceased parents of guardians or letter from local leadership (e.g., headman or church leader).
The actual bursary application is done online on the MoTS website. Once the announcement is made that they are receiving applications, you can log into the application portal make your application. You will need to attach the electronic copy of your social welfare report, plus scanned pdf copies of your NRC, results, acceptance letter and any other supporting documents. The bursary application form collected from the school needs to be filled-in and submitted back to the school along with copies of your NRC, results, and social welfare report. The school will submit these documents on your behalf to the MoTS Bursaries Committee.
You need to be on the lookout for the announcement that bursary applications are open so that you do not miss the deadlines for application. This announcement is usually made on the MoTS website, Teveta website, and in newspapers. So, we recommend that you periodically visit those two websites especially towards around September – November so that you can know in good time when you need to apply.
We wish you all the very best on your journey to success.
Want to learn more about scholarships, student loans, CDF bursaries and other types of college and university sponsorship available in Zambia? Check out our other blogs right here on Zeyuni.
References
- MoTS TEVET Bursary System: https://tevetbursary.mots.gov.zm/
- TEVETA: https://www.teveta.org.zm/