Van Schaik Bookstore, one of Southern Africa’s leading academic booksellers, and Marsh, a global leader in insurance broking and risk management, partnered to promote a love for writing through a national essay writing competition.
As Africa’s pre-eminent insurance broker and risk advisor, Marsh Africa held an essay writing competition in May as part of their Global Volunteer Month. Marsh’s flagship CSI programme, Boost a School, is aimed at improving school performance and the quality of education at disadvantaged communities in South Africa.
A total of 230 learners from two of the four schools within the Boost a School programme, Alexandra High School in Gauteng and Cloetesville High School in the Western Cape, participated in the essay writing competition. With the themes, “My favourite book” or “Which book inspired me”, approximately 167 essays were submitted by Grade 8 -12 pupils at Alexandra High School and 63 received from Cloetesville High School pupils between Grade 8 and 10. Van Schaik Bookstore sponsored the prize for each school’s 1st prize winner.
“With our Boost a School Programme, emphasis is placed more on investment rather than spend, as we feel our CSR approach is invariably developmental and innovative. We believe in building relationships and bringing our expertise, capacity and resources to fill the gaps”, says Errol Masinga, Transformation Manager at Marsh.
Marsh employees countrywide are also contributing towards buying each participant a book which Van Schaik Bookstore will manage.
“We feel very privileged to be part of this essay writing initiative. The eradication of illiteracy is very close to the heart of Van Schaik Bookstore and we believe that it’s imperative for learners to have the opportunity to express themselves and develop their skills. The competition was met with lots of enthusiasm and we are proud of the partnership”, said Margaret Vyver-Rambau, Marketing Manager at Van Schaik Bookstore.
Van Schaik Bookstore and Marsh Africa are proud of the success of their initial partnership and are exploring possible future collaborations in order to make an impact on quality of education at disadvantaged communities in the country.