Standard Bank Group
Education
We are passionate about equitable access to education, including life-long growth through on-going training and skills development. We support students by providing versatile financing solutions, as well as investing in employee growth. In collaboration with governments and NGOs, we also provide CSI funding for educational programmes.
Our focus areas
Finance for education
Providing tailored financial solutions for educational institutions
Standard Bank aims to equip young people to become entrepreneurs, capable of developing their own opportunities, rather than relying solely on trying to find a job in a highly constrained market. Our investment in the USAf Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme has enabled the establishment of Economic Activation Offices (EAO) at 10 South African public universities, with more to follow from 2023.
Funding for students
Providing innovative funding solutions for students
We work with partners in government and the corporate sector to address the challenge of affordable and accessible student finance through innovative models such as the Feenix™ crowdfunding platform and partnerships with the Discovery Foundation and Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
| R162 million raised on the Feenix platform since 2017 | R41.1 million in student loans provided in 2022 |
1,131 students benefitting in 2022 with 26 universities represented |
Employee skills development
Innovative and accessible learning opportunities to nature our talent
As part of our efforts to develop, attract and retain critical skills and to ensure that all our employees have access to tools and resources to grow and develop, we provide a variety of educational and leadership programmes.
We continue to invest in our people and are delighted by the enthusiasm and commitment with which they have embraced our digital skills development programme. We invested over R868 million on employee development across the group, an average learning spend of over R18 000 per employee. Over 9 000 employees took part in leadership programmes.
| R59.8 million provided for employee bursaries |
R868 million invested in employee development |
142 graduates employed |
Corporate social investment
Strategic partnerships supporting access to quality education
In South Africa, our corporate social investment (CSI) focus is on supporting improved access to quality education through the development of multi-year strategic partnerships with community organisations.
| CSI funds spent on education spent was 62% of total CSI SA spending |
R14 million towards education projects across Africa |
Reached 253 teachers and 39,504 learners via Edufundi support programme for South African teachers to promote teaching excellence |
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Finance for education
-
Funding for students
-
Employee skills development
-
Corporate social investment
Providing tailored financial solutions for educational institutions
Standard Bank aims to equip young people to become entrepreneurs, capable of developing their own opportunities, rather than relying solely on trying to find a job in a highly constrained market. Our investment in the USAf Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme has enabled the establishment of Economic Activation Offices (EAO) at 10 South African public universities, with more to follow from 2023.
Providing innovative funding solutions for students
We work with partners in government and the corporate sector to address the challenge of affordable and accessible student finance through innovative models such as the Feenix™ crowdfunding platform and partnerships with the Discovery Foundation and Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
| R162 million raised on the Feenix platform since 2017 | R41.1 million in student loans provided in 2022 |
1,131 students benefitting in 2022 with 26 universities represented |
Innovative and accessible learning opportunities to nature our talent
As part of our efforts to develop, attract and retain critical skills and to ensure that all our employees have access to tools and resources to grow and develop, we provide a variety of educational and leadership programmes.
We continue to invest in our people and are delighted by the enthusiasm and commitment with which they have embraced our digital skills development programme. We invested over R868 million on employee development across the group, an average learning spend of over R18 000 per employee. Over 9 000 employees took part in leadership programmes.
| R59.8 million provided for employee bursaries |
R868 million invested in employee development |
142 graduates employed |
Strategic partnerships supporting access to quality education
In South Africa, our corporate social investment (CSI) focus is on supporting improved access to quality education through the development of multi-year strategic partnerships with community organisations.
| CSI funds spent on education spent was 62% of total CSI SA spending |
R14 million towards education projects across Africa |
Reached 253 teachers and 39,504 learners via Edufundi support programme for South African teachers to promote teaching excellence |
Corporate social investment
We support programmes to strengthen the capacity of teachers and caregivers, with a focus on early childhood development (ECD) and foundation phase learning.
Kirston Greenop
Head of CSI, Standard Bank South Africa
Standard Bank’s CSI must have impact. But we must also publicly recognise and share that impact so more people can benefit from programmes that work. A good example is the Feenix Platform, which over the last five years has managed to reach over 850 students who may have been excluded from further education. Education is a critical area in any economy, and at Standard Bank we commit to using digital solutions like the Feenix platform to bring donors and students together in an inclusive, accessible and safe way to make education happen. We will continue to champion Feenix and similar education strategies to reach as many students in South Africa as possible.
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