Stanbic Bank Uganda has announced the commencement of the 9th edition of the National Schools Championship (NSC).

The official launch occurred on Monday, March 18, 2024, at the National Teachers College Muni in Arua City, during a meeting of Municipal and District Education Officers (DEOs).

The NSC, a key component of Stanbic Bank’s Corporate Social Investment, is designed to offer a comprehensive educational program for students and teachers in secondary schools. It covers various areas such as career development, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, teacher training, and psychosocial well-being.

The event was honoured by the presence of Hon. Morico Kaduccu, the State Minister for Education, who conveyed remarks from the First Lady and Minister for Education, Janet Kataha Museveni. Minister Museveni applauded the collaborative efforts of partners in the education sector and commended Stanbic Bank for its commitment to promoting quality education.

She emphasized the alignment of the NSC with the government’s competency-based and learner-centred education curriculum, aimed at equipping the youth with practical skills.

The retreat focused on enhancing school performance and adaptability to the changing educational landscape. Minister Museveni stressed the importance of stakeholders devising strategies to address the diverse challenges facing schools today.

With the theme ‘Empowering the Job Creators of Tomorrow,’ the NSC has been instrumental in encouraging students to develop innovative solutions to community challenges for nearly a decade.

This year, the competition comprises four main categories: StudentGrow challenge for existing innovations, StudentSpark challenge for innovative projects and business ideas, AlumGrow Challenge for schools with previous NSC participation, and TeachInnovate for teachers with unique teaching approaches or projects.

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 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. 

How to Apply:
Applications are being accepted online via the National Schools Championship Website HERE.

Successful applicants will progress through several qualifying rounds, including a boot camp where they will receive training in business plan development, product development, customer care, communication skills, branding, and marketing. The journey culminates in a grand finale in October.