CULTURALLY-CONSCIOUS TEENAGE GIRLS SEEKING ASSISTANCE TO CONTINUE THEIR TERTIARY STUDIES

CULTURALLY-CONSCIOUS TEENAGE GIRLS SEEKING ASSISTANCE TO CONTINUE THEIR TERTIARY STUDIES By Subry Govender Two young South Coast sisters, who have participated on a regular basis in cultural events organised by the Tamil Federation of KwaZulu-Natal and the South African Tamil Federation, are seeking assistance to continue their tertiary education. Miss Nireshnie Naidoo, 21, and her sister, Rochelle, completed their matriculation at the Umzinto Secondary School last year and are now enrolled at separate higher educational institutions. Nireshnie has enrolled at the Damelin Business College in Durban for a three-year Bachelor of Commerce: Accounting course, while her sister, Rochelle, has enrolled at the Embury Institute for a four-year teaching course. Their working-class parents, Mr Rajen and Mrs Veno Naidoo, have decided that their culturally-conscious daughters must be given the opportunities to attain higher qualifications despite the family's financial constraints. Mr Naidoo works as a security guard in Park Rynie while Mrs Naidoo is a cashier at a local supermarket. "We have taken a decision that attaining a decent tertiary education will help our girls a great deal in their futures," said Mrs Naidoo. "Therefore, we are sacrificing almost everything to ensure that our girls attain higher qualifications. Both my husband and I earn very little and are finding it difficult to meet all the costs." Nireshnie's first year course, excluding books, amounted to R19 900, while transport per month was R880. Rochelle's teachers' studies amounted to R38 000 and transport was R1 400 a month. Mrs Naidoo said despite their hardships, their daughters contuinued to participate in Tamil and South Indian cultural events on the South Coast and other parts of KwaZulu-Natal. "Our girls have been involved in promoting our dances and music since they were little girls." She said they were finding it very tough to come up with all the monies required for their studies and would appreciate some assistance from cultural bodies. "We want to appeal to our cultural organisations to try to help our girls in completing their tertiary studies." Anyone wishing to assist the young girls in their studies can contact the Naidoos on telephone number 039 - 9760822.