Banking institution; Stanbic Bank Uganda in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Sports, early this year in February launched the Stanbic Bank National Schools Championship which saw over 3,000 students from 40 secondary schools countrywide participate in a series of educational activities ranging from class debates, essay writing, quiz competitions, and dynamic group projects.
The competition aimed to encourage and challenge students in critical thinking and providing exposure to vast knowledge beyond their classrooms which at the end of it all equipped them with skills in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, problem solving, building confidence, presentation skills, and creative thinking skills.
After a stiff region competition, four schools each representing its region; Sacred Heart Secondary school from Gulu, Teso College Aloet from Soroti, Kibuli Secondary School from the Central, and Mary Hill High School from Mbarara presented their Bank simulation project to a panel of judges at the Grand Finale that was held at the Kampala Serena Hotel on April 29th, 2017 – with MaryHill High School emerging as the overall winner.
The school represented by two brilliant girls Arinda Tracy and Mugisha Evelyne managed to impress the judges and the audience with their ‘Co-operative Union Project Proposal’ which managed to score for them a perfect score of 83%.
Kibuli Secondary School from the Central region and Sacred Heart Girls’ Secondary School from the Northern region came as the 1st and 2nd runners up respectively.
The overall winners; MaryHill High School won an all-expense paid educational trip to South Africa with the school also receiving a solar system which is worth 20 Million UGX.
The 1st runners-up, each student was given an iPad and a one week internship training at the Bank while the school was given a water system worth 10 Million UGX. And finally, the 2nd runners-up, each student was given a 1 Million UGX savings account as the school got 7 habits of highly effective teenagers and teacher training program.
As of yesterday, the bank has flown off the two winners Tracy Arinda and Evelyne Mugisha who are both students of Mary Hill High School Mbarara from Western Uganda, for their fully paid educational to South Africa.
In a press statement, Daniel Ogong; Head of Marketing at Stanbic Bank Uganda said one of their core initiatives as Stanbic Bank is investing in education, with a strong belief that the development of any country begins with the proper education of its young people.
“We trust that such competitions among students, are one clear way to improve academic performance,” he said.
He added saying, “this competition therefore aims to encourage and challenge the students in critical thinking and provide exposure to vast knowledge beyond the classroom.”
While issues rose up as to why the competition was limited to a few schools countrywide, Cathy Adengo; Head of Communications and CSI at Stanbic Bank – in press statement that we received suggested that more schools will participate in next year’s competition.
