An aptitude for commerce has won three Dunedin secondary school pupils PricewaterhouseCoopers New Zealand 2011 Scholarships - the most awarded in Dunedin since the awards were established eight years ago.
John McGlashan College pupil Jean De Klerk and Columba College pupils Sophie Borland and Sasha Roulston were awarded the scholarships for high academic achievement, and will receive $7000 towards the cost of their university education, mentoring support, and a summer internship in their final year of study at one of seven PwC offices nationally.
Additionally, the Dunedin winners have been offered the opportunity of part-time work while completing their degree at the University of Otago.
Jean has received scholarship and excellence awards in 2009 and 2010 for his performance in NCEA levels 1 and 2, and this year, he undertook a 100-level accounting paper at the University of Otago for which he received an A+ grade.
Sophie was first in accounting at Columba in 2010 and received excellence endorsements in NCEA levels 1 and 2 in 2009 and 2010.
She is managing director of Columba College's Young Enterprise Team.
Sasha is finance director of the Young Enterprise team and studied a University of Canterbury paper in economics this year.
PwC Dunedin manager Brett Lawton said several hundred applications were received this year and a total of 21 scholarships were awarded nationally.
The awards aimed to identify and celebrate successful young people, and support them into careers in commerce and accounting, he said.
"It is the first time more than one scholarship has been awarded in Dunedin during the eight years the programme has been running.
"This is a great result for the Dunedin community, and demonstrates the high calibre of local candidates at a national level."
