Stanbic Bank Uganda has announced the official commencement of the 9th edition of the esteemed National Schools Championship (NSC). This call for application event took place on Monday 18th March 2024 during a meeting of Municipal and District Education Officers (DEOs) convened at the National Teachers College Muni in Arua City.
The National Schools Championship is an education programme under Stanbic Bank’s Corporate Social Investment. It aims to provide a holistic approach to learning and capacity
development for students and teachers in secondary schools in various areas including; Career growth and development, Financial education, Business and Entrepreneurship, Teacher training and capacity development and Psychosocial wellness.
The ceremony was graced by Hon. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, the State Minister for Education, who delivered the remarks of the First Lady and Minister for Education, Janet Kataha Museveni. Minister Museveni expressed confidence in partners in the education sector, emphasizing the shared responsibility of providing quality education.
The minister commended the collaborative efforts of partners in complementing the ministry’s initiatives in improving performance in schools.
The minister hailed Stanbic Bank for championing a noble cause which complements the government’s efforts in enabling the young generation compete beyond the classroom setting.
She highlighted that the National School Championship competition directly aligns with the newly rolled out competency-based and learner-centred education curriculum aiming towards enabling the young generation acquire hands-on skills.
At the heart of the retreat’s agenda was the imperative to enhance school performance and adaptability to the evolving educational landscape. Minister Museveni underscored the necessity for stakeholders to devise strategies and innovations to address the diverse challenges facing schools in today’s dynamic world.
Under the theme ‘Empowering the Job Creators of Tomorrow,’ the NSC has, for nearly a decade, fostered an environment where students develop innovative solutions to community challenges.
This year, the competition encompasses four main categories; One is for existing innovations, called the StudentGrow challenge which is for Vocational and Secondary Schools in Uganda apply on behalf of their students with ongoing and active innovative projects & businesses. The StudentSpark challenge for vocational and Secondary Schools in Uganda to apply on behalf of their students with innovative projects & business ideas.
AlumGrow Challenge for secondary and vocational schools that previously participated in the Stanbic NSC bootcamp and have started a unique business or social project. And the other which targets innovations by Teachers, called the TeachInnovate for Teachers at secondary and vocational schools who have a unique business, social project or innovative teaching approach.
Diana Ondoga, the Manager of Corporate Social Investment at Stanbic Bank, remarked, “The Stanbic National Schools Championship has evolved from a simple debate competition into a transformative enterprise challenge, empowering students across Uganda to become the job creators of tomorrow.”
“The participants go through skilling for future jobs including personal development, public speaking, digital management, budgeting and business planning addressing a critical future challenge of unemployment arising from inadequate skilling.” Ondoga urged the District Education Officers to join the bank and drive schools to join the programme.
She told the DEOs and the minister that the NSC initiative has played a pivotal role in promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, and environmental conservation among secondary school students.
To date, Stanbic Bank has invested UGX 6 billion in the initiative, leading to the establishment of over 200 businesses, with 100 of them receiving capital grants through the NSC.
Mr George Mutekanga, Commissioner for Private Schools at the Ministry of Education, hailed the NSC as a transformative initiative aligned with the ministry’s efforts to realign the secondary school curriculum. He emphasized that participation in the NSC provides students with valuable exposure to ideation, fostering creativity, collaboration, and innovation.
Albert Yiga, the Stanbic Bank Uganda education sector head implored schools to actively take part in order to benefit not only from the NSC grand price and mentorship but also tap into other school products being offered by the bank.
He revealed that Stanbic Bank Uganda is currently closely with accredited energy services companies (ESCOs) to deliver customer needs and engineering solutions that improve their service satisfaction by improving their balance sheets, reducing their carbon emissions, and increasing their work productivity.
“For this case, Stanbic Bank works closely with ECOCA East Africa SMC Ltd to deliver solutions for Solar Energy for Institutional Cooking. The institutional ECOCA Solar School Kitchen operates entirely on solar power, meeting cooking energy needs for various institutions. It can also customize lighting and power appliances like computers. Depending on the design, the ECOCA can support from 100 – 1,000 students and can be sequenced to have additional units to serve over 10,000 students. A single unit includes a 1,000-litre solar water heater, and battery backup system. Large ECOCA electric pots/ boilers are available in sizes from 110 to 500 litres.” Yiga explained.