Stanbic Bank Uganda has announced the return of the National Schools Championship (NSC), now in its ninth edition.
The official launch took place during a meeting of Municipal and District Education Officers (DEOs) convened at the National Teachers College Muni in Arua City.
Speaking during the ceremony, Morico Kaduccu, the State Minister for Education, who represented the First Lady and Minister for Education, Janet Kataha 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.
She also hailed Stanbic Bank for championing a noble cause which complements the government’s efforts in enabling the young generation compete beyond the classroom setting.
The minister noted 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.
This year, the competition encompasses four main categories including one for existing innovations, called the StudentGrow challenge which is for vocational and secondary schools in Uganda to apply on behalf of their students with ongoing and active innovative projects and businesses.
The StudentSpark challenge is for vocational and secondary schools in Uganda to apply on behalf of their students with
innovative projects and business ideas whereas AlumGrow challenge is for secondary and vocational schools that previously
participated in the Stanbic NSC boot camp and have started a unique business or social project.
On the other side, TeachInnovate targets innovations by teachers at secondary and vocational schools who have a unique
business, social project or innovative teaching approach.
“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,” said Diana Ondoga, the manager corporate and social investment at Stanbic Bank.
“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 district education officers to join the bank and drive schools to join the programme.
She said that the National Schools Championship initiative has played a pivotal role in promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, and environmental conservation among secondary school students.
To date, Stanbic Bank has invested shs6 billion in the initiative, leading to the establishment of over 200 businesses, with 100 of them receiving capital grants through the National Schools Championship.
George Mutekanga, the Commissioner for Private Schools at the Ministry of Education, hailed the National Schools Championship as a transformative initiative aligned with the ministry’s efforts to realign the secondary school curriculum.
He emphasized that participation in the championship 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 working 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.
