Media Statement - Launch of "GOALS4KIDS" in South Africa: 16 Grade 5 learners to receive high school bursaries

Today, we are proud to launch "GOALS4KIDS", an initiative to reward promising learners in disadvantaged communities with bursaries. It is the result of a partnership between German Engineering company AGO AG and the Impumelelo Innovations Award Trust, with Premier Helen Zille as South African patron and the German Federal Minister of Defence Dr. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg as the German patron of the initiative.

The pilot project of this initiative namely "GOALS4SOUTHAFRICA" used the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a platform to award bursaries to promising learners in the province and to donate goal posts in disadvantaged communities. For every goal the German national team scored during the tournament, AGO AG committed itself to sponsor the schooling of a grade 5 learner up to the age of 18 years. Furthermore, a new set of goal posts would also be installed on a football pitch in a disadvantaged area.

The 16 goals Germany scored during the tournament means that a total of 16 grade 5 learners will receive bursaries and 16 sets of goal posts will be installed at football pitches in disadvantaged areas.

The Impumelelo Innovations Award Trust will, in collaboration with the German registered non-profit organisation Goals4Kids, manage the initiative and will allocate the 16 bursaries to disadvantaged learners in the province. This pilot project will be conducted in the Atlantis and Witsand area with Headmasters from schools in these areas invited to nominate grade 5 learners in their schools who they believe are deserving of a bursary.

16 learners will then be chosen by the Impumelelo Innovations Award Trust based on the following criteria:

• The learner must be in Grade 5
• boys and girls will be chosen
• the learner has to be in the top 15% of his or her school's grades
• the learner must have consistently achieved good grades
• the learners must have shown commitment and dedication to achieving good grades
• learner must have proper parental/guardian support

The 16 sets of goal posts will not be limited to the Witsand and Atlantis area but will be installed in disadvantaged areas in and outside the Western Cape.

We are pleased to announce that the German Goal4Kids organisation managed to attract PUMA to donate football items to the "GOALS4KIDS" initiative, which include shin guards, goalkeeper gloves, football pumps, footballs, player's kits and football balls. These items will be distributed to disadvantaged football players, clubs and schools.

The pilot project "GOALS4SOUTHAFRICA" is an example of the legacies that have been created by South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It has resulted in 16 grade five learners receiving a free education until they are 18 years old and football players in disadvantaged areas enjoying access to proper football equipment in the future.

Additional sponsorships and donations will ensure the sustainability of the initiative and it spreading to other areas. This is because any additional sponsorships or donations will be used to provide bursaries to learners in other areas in the province and the rest of South Africa. Thus many more children, from disadvantaged areas in the Western Cape and the rest of the country, could be provided with education and training opportunities through the "GOALS4KIDS" initiative in the future.

Premier Helen Zille who is patron of the initiative in South Africa says:
"I am honoured to be the patron of "GOAL4KIDS". This initiative will no doubt make a great contribution, not only to the lives of learners and football players in disadvantaged communities, but to promoting and bolstering one of our government's strategic objectives which is maximising education outcomes in the Western Cape."