Novare announced at the annual graduation ceremony at Elsenburg that Divan-Jon Paulse had been awarded the bursary. This is the fourth year of Novare's sponsorship with Peter John Danster (2009), Neljanine Soman (2010) and Lonia Malatji (2011) being the previous students to have benefited.
Having excelled in his studies, Divan-Jon successfully completed the level one Pomology learnership and was top of his class, receiving the award for the best Pomology learnership student at the end of 2010. In 2011 he continued his studies and enrolled for the NQF level 4, Plant Production learnership. The curriculum exposed him to all aspects of viticulture, amongst other subject modules. In 2011 he was awarded the overall best learnership student. Divan-Jon was accepted for the Higher Certificate Programme at Elsenburg and will be furthering his studies this year in Plant Production.
Marina van Til, head of marketing at Novare commented: "For Novare this initiative - in partnership with the department of agriculture in the Western Cape - is an investment in our country's youth, in skills development and in transformation in agriculture. It is also consistent with other aspects of our corporate social investment programme, notably the recognition of South African wine-making excellence."
"The Department of Agriculture in the Western Cape is very proud to be associated with Novare as a partner in developing skills within the agricultural sector through its continued financial support of financially needy students, especially those from previously disadvantage communities. In doing so, it not only contributes to transformation in agriculture, but also demonstrates its commitment towards corporate social responsibility within the broader context," said Douglas Chitepo, director of Further Education & Training at the Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute.
