The Indian Premier League has come as a blessing in disguise not only for South African economy but also for the nation's education system with the league organisers announcing a eight million rand scholarship programme for schools and individual learners.
On the eve of the inaugural day of the second edition of the Twenty2 mega event, IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi today announced the programme named 'Help Educate And Teach' (HEAT) programme at a special event at Alexander Sinton High School in Athlone here.
The school became the first beneficiary of the programme, that will be among the largest community programmes in South Africa by a sport organisation, when headmaster Faziel Parker officially received 100,000 rand paid into a dedicated scholarship fund at the school.
Among other present to mark the occasion were captains and leading players of various IPL teams including Shane Warne, Kevin Pietersen, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Aakash Chopra, RP Singh and Daniel Vettori.
They were also joined by team owners and Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Priety Zinta and cricketer-turned-commentator Ravi Shastri.