Maryhill High School from Western Uganda emerged victorious in the Stanbic Bank National Schools championships, following a highly competitive finals held in Kampala featuring the other three regional competitors; Kibuli SS from Central region, Sacred Heart Girls school from Northern region and Teso College Aloet from Eastern region.
The team from Maryhill High School presented a detailed bank simulation project, which looked at how financial institutions can positively transform the societies where they operate. As the overall winners, Maryhill High school won the Grand Prize of an all-expenses paid trip to South Africa and their school also won an amazing UGX 20 Million fully installed Solar system for class room blocks.
Congratulating Maryhill High School at the prize giving ceremony, Stanbic Board Chairman Japheth Katto said, “The team from Western Uganda has been outstanding throughout the competition. They beat 9 schools to win in their region and have carried this form into the finals culminating in their victory. They are truly worthy winners and representative of exactly what we were looking for when we started this competition which necessitated teamwork, commitment, and a sound knowledge of how financial institutions can make a difference in everyday lives.”
The Guest of Honour, the Director Education KCCA, Juliet Namuddu, praised Stanbic Bank for the initiative. She said, “KCCA appreciates what Stanbic Bank has achieved through this competition, because financial literacy is a very important subject yet it is not extensively taught in most schools.”
She pledged KCCA would continue supporting Stanbic on this and other educational projects which give students the practical life skills necessary to succeed in real life.
The 2017 edition of the National Schools Championship was launched in February by Stanbic Bank in partnership with the Ministry of Education. Over 3,000 students from 40 secondary schools participated in a series of increasingly difficult educational challenges including class debates, regional quiz competitions and finally the Bank simulation project.
Kibuli SS emerged as the first Runner up and walked away with Apple iPads each and a water system for the school worth UGX10 million. The second runner up Sacred Heart High School, each received a savings account with UGX 1 million and a book titled ‘7 habits of highly effective teenagers’.
Cathy Adengo, Stanbic Bank’s Head of CSR and Communications said, “This has been a fantastic competition and the entire programme has shown us the brilliant minds we have across the country. Stanbic Bank believes that investing in education is a critical vehicle to fostering development in the country. We believe that healthy competition and innovativeness among students is a step forward to creating active minds which yield solutions that would steer not only improved academic performance, but also definite solutions to moving Uganda economically forward.”