Asset
Associations in Cape Town

The Association for Educational Transformation a non-profit which aims to provide opportunities for students from disadvantaged communities to realise their full educational potential, and to contribute to the process of educational transformation in South Africa.

ASSET (the Association for Educational Transformation) is situated in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is a non-profit NGO which aims to provide opportunities for students from disadvantaged communities to realise their full educational potential, and to contribute to the process of educational transformation in South Africa. Both programmes were previously run under the auspices of the Cape Western Region of the SA Institute of Race Relations but gained independence in 2003 under ASSET. It really helps a lot and those who attend are the ones who end up getting the best results. A group of seven ex bursars from ASSET got together early in 2012 to discuss the feasibility of starting the ASSET Alumni. Our vision is to be a prominent, respected organisation whose members make meaningful contribution to ASSET, current students and to each other. Our mission is to promote the interests of ASSET by strengthening the ties of goodwill and communication between ASSET, the Alumni and students and by maintaining programs to serve their needs. The alumni represents its interests by gathering a voice for it and facilitate communication. It aims to stand as a support structure to ASSET current students, both on LDP and tertiary, through mentorship, career guidance, counselling, life skills, internship, academic and financial assistances. The Bursary Programme was established in 1972 under the auspices of the SAIRR Cape Western Region.It provides financial assistance for needy matriculants who apply for study at a tertiary institution in the Western Cape. Bursaries are variable and cover a percentage of the cost of tuition together with an annual book allowance. Bursars are able to access loans to cover the shortfall and any other costs e.g. The Bursary Programme has benefited greatly from a partnership with NSFAS. It enables us to offer bursars a bursary/loan package to cover their needs and to help more students than would otherwise be possible. It also has the advantage of encouraging bursars to be responsible for part of the cost of their studies.