At least 158 secondary education colleges from across the country have been cleared to compete in the 9^th edition of the Stanbic National Schools Championship (NSC)—an annual youth entrepreneurship skilling challenge.

Sam Mwogeza, the Executive Head for Personal & Private Banking at Stanbic Bank presided over the ceremony to flag off this year’s competition with a call on parents and schools to support their children to effectively prepare their projects to improve their competitiveness.

“Entrepreneurship is the only sustainable solution for us to address the endemic challenge of unemployment among our youth. As a brand that is at the forefront of driving Uganda’s growth, the Stanbic National Schools Championship is a platform that we designed to nurture learners into the next generation of jobs and wealth creators,” said Mwogeza.

Annually, over 60,000 students from more than 100 Ugandan secondary schools participate in the various skilling challenges covering career growth and development, financial education, business and entrepreneurship, teacher training and capacity development, and psychosocial wellness.

This year, schools in the Central region are dominating participation with 49 entries followed by the East with 45 slots, 36 for Western and 28 for Northern, according to Diana Ondoga, the Corporate Social Investment Manager at Stanbic Bank Uganda.

“Over the eight years of operation, the Stanbic National Schools Championship has benefited reached half a million learners, teachers and the community through direct and indirect beneficiaries and we hope to achieve new milestones with this 9^th edition,” she said.

George Muteekanga, the Assistant Commissioner for Private Schools at the Ministry of Education and Sports, lauded Stanbic for sustaining National Schools Championship into an effective platform for youth skilling and nurturing a wealth creation mindset in line with the government’s economic transformation agenda.

He said gone are the days when people focused on how many grades a child scored in Secondary school. Today the concern is more on what is the child able to do with his/her hands. We are now in for a society where students create jobs for themselves.

“This is because participation in the NSC provides students with valuable exposure to ideation, fostering creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and innovation. Uganda has over 5000 government and private secondary schools that all deserve to partake in the NSC contest. As a Ministry, we call upon school managers encourage their students to participate in this experiential skilling competition,” Muteekanga said.

Stiff competition

Comboni College School from Lira district beat stiff competition from ivy-league central based schools to be crowned champions of the 8^th edition last year, walking away with UGX 20 million worth of a fully installed solar system that has since empowered the school with clean and reliable energy.

Winners also walk away with individual prizes including laptops that support the participating students in their continued learning and exploration, as well as a cash prize of UGX 1.2 million for the dedicated teacher who guided the victorious school team, acknowledging their role in nurturing innovation.