After a year hiatus because of the pandemic, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority has announced the return of its Financial Literacy Speech Competition for schools this year. Initially piloted with 150 schools in Gauteng in 2016, this popular contest and skills-development initiative has grown into a national event with an impact on the lives of over 3 000 learners, their teachers, and families. In 2019 nine provincial winners also received a full bursary covering their tuition, accommodation, textbooks, and stipends for a three-year tertiary qualification. These students are now at university.
The speech competition targets Grade 11 learners from quintile 1-to-3 schools majoring in business studies, economics and accounting subjects. The focus of the competition is to promote financial literacy amongst learners by encouraging them to research a selected topic, synthesize that research intelligibly, then present the findings in a five-minute speech. Topics range from financial planning, consumer protection, rights and responsibilities, to starting a business (entrepreneurship) and engaging with financial services providers.
This year, leveraging digital technology, the competition will be held online. At school level, through classroom elimination, teachers will identify the first-round winners then upload the winners’ presentation video to a dedicated platform. The schools’ winning videos will then be adjudicated remotely by a panel of FSCA-appointed judges selected from the financial services industry and the provincial departments of education through all rounds of the competition.
There are prizes of R30 000, R15 000 and R7 500 for the top three positions per province. At the national finals, a further R30 000, R15 000 and R7 500 will be handed out. Three full bursaries will be up for grabs over and above the prizes. To find out more, check out the FSCA’s social media pages using #FLSC2021SA or visit www.fscaspeechcomp.co.za.
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