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The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the JB Marks Awards will set a new standard in the education and corporate sectors by honouring 94 graduates this year at its prestigious Annual Education Awards Ceremony, which will be held tonight at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park.

Among the 94 graduates, who have graduated in various fields of study, are three medical doctors—a collective achievement, which shows the efficacy of the JB Marks bursary programme; a programme initiated under the auspices of Mineworkers Investment Trust (MIT) whose interest in the needs of the community led to the formation of Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) to provide funds for the JB Marks Education Trust Fund and Awards Programmes.

The JB Marks Education Trust Fund was founded in 1997 by the NUM and named after the first president of the African Miners Union. Over the past 17 years, JB Marks has provided bursaries for members of the NUM and their families. The fund has enabled 830 bursars to graduate with mainstream qualifications (including 15 medical doctors) and disbursed R130 million to over 2000 beneficiaries, with 700 students still in the pipeline.

What makes the JB Marks Education Trust Fund particularly important to the general upliftment of the community is its interest in the dependants of the relevant workers, of whom many have received educational bursaries. To date, the Trust has awarded over 4000 bursaries to the dependants of mineworkers.

Educating and empowering young Southern Africans is the centrepiece of the NUM strategy meant to break the yoke of the triple evils of poverty, joblessness and inequality.

As the NUM, we have deliberately and consciously placed ourselves at the forefront of championing the national effort of educating and empowering the dependents of our members. Education of an individual is by definition education of a society

The NUM through the JB Marks Education Trust Fund will continue to educate its members and their dependants.

The NUM is inviting the media to attend and report about this prestigious event tonight at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park. The event is starting at 6 pm.

Issued by The National Union of Mineworkers