KPMG succeeds in education development

These initiatives have included the successful Enactus World 2013, The KPMG Spring School and the KPMG Family for Literacy.

"Education is one of the key focus areas in our CSI strategy. The education of our children in South Africa is important to building a sustainable economy and we are proud that we are taking concerted efforts to play our role," said KPMG CEO, Moses Kgosana.

Enactus World Cup 2013

KPMG global is the presenting sponsor of the recent Enactus World Cup 2013 held in Cancun, Mexico. The event hosts teams of young students from different countries who present their sustainable community outreach projects which they have developed and implemented throughout the year.

The University of Pretoria (winners of the SA National competition) travelled to Mexico, to represent South Africa. The team reached the semi-finals of the global tournament. Yunus Suleman, chairman of Enactus South Africa and chairman of KPMG in South Africa, attended the event as a final round judge of the teams competing from 34 countries in the world.

"It is thrilling to see South Africa reach the semi-finals at the World Cup in the midst of top universities globally that were taking part. This is all the more important as we gear up for 2015, when this major event will be hosted in South Africa for the first time," commented Yunus Suleman.

Enactus is an international non-profit organisation that brings together student, academic and business leaders who are committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need. KPMG in South Africa is a founding sponsor of Enactus (previously known as SIFE) in our country and we've strengthened that relationship ever since.

The KPMG Spring School

The KPMG Spring School was an initiative run by the KPMG Learning and Development Division in partnership with the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (ABASA) Johannesburg branch. 40 educators from disadvantaged schools in and around Johannesburg and Delmas attended three days of learning and development at KPMG's Parktown offices.

Some of the schools represented included Crown Mines Primary School (Mayfair), Kwena Molapo High School (Lanseria), MM Motloung High (Delmas), and Phomolong Secondary (Tembisa).

"It's an honour and a privilege for us to play a role assisting to equip Educators. They play a very important role in society and the skills that we have given them can be used in all aspects of life, inside and outside the classroom," said Heidi Volschenk, director in charge of KPMG South Africa's Learning and Development Division.

KPMG's Family for Literacy

KPMG is championing the fight against childhood illiteracy through the KPMG Family for Literacy programme.

The programme provides foundation phase children living in disadvantaged communities with books. The majority of children from low-income families have no books in their homes or classrooms, and direct access is extremely limited. These children have far fewer literacy and language experiences at home and enter school at a disadvantage. KPMG contributed R10 000 worth of books to the children of Salvazione Christian School on Mandela Day 2013.

KPMG has been running several book drives, where the books collected are donated to children at schools during one-on-on reading sessions.

"KPMG staff members have made a huge difference in the lives of these children by buying books which are then distributed to children. KPMG will be distributing more books to children at Yeoville Primary in November. We believe that this is a significant step in the fight against childhood illiteracy and forms part of our Education focus in terms of our CSI strategy," ended Suleman.