For the next seven days, over 150 schools are participating in the highly demanding, but exciting boot camp stage of the annual Stanbic National Schools Championship (NSC) taking place at Seroma Christian High School in Mukono District.
Diana Ondoga, Head of Social Corporate Investment at Stanbic Bank said, “Here we take them through skilling on business entrepreneurship, on personal management, business modeling, but also psycho-social because mental health is a key element of the well-being of a Ugandan learner.”
She said the NSC targets young Ugandans between the ages of 13 and 18 with the objective of skilling them to prepare themselves for the real world.
She said NSC complements the curriculum changes introduced by the Ministry of Education about five years ago, in the sense that it is an initiative allows students to practice what they are learning in preparation for the future.
The Championship is also aligned with the National Development Plan because it empowers youth, who make up the majority of the population, to be better equipped to face the challenges of limited jobs in the formal sector.
Sebastian Nyanzi, a student of St. Mary’s College Kisubi (SMACK) said, “I have realized that the country has a lot of innovative students, but what’s the purpose of innovation if you can’t make money out of it?”
He said his team is excited about the boot camp because it will teach them how to benefit from what they innovate.
“I have learnt that you can be book-wise intelligent, but you really need innovations to take you to the next level and Stanbic is here to ensure that our innovations are taken to the next level,” he said.
Atima Adaka, from Lira Town College, also expressed her excitement for the boot camp noting that she can’t wait for the mentorship in order to improve their business idea.
“I can’t wait to learn from big minds during the boot camp, but I also expect to win and take our business idea further, because in my community, I know our idea would be of great use,” she said.
