Livingstone High wins local business competition
LIVINGSTONE High School pupils proved to be the best in business, as they won the top prize at the 2018 Western Cape’s South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and Coronation Business Development Games.
Nineteen schools were chosen to participate in the province’s annual Business Development Games, which took place at the University of the Western Cape. Livingstone High School contested against close to 200 Grade 10 and 11 pupils. Hottentots-Holland High School came second and Settlers High School placed third.
The games, played using the world-renowned Commercium board game, sees pupils tackle real-world business situations to make the most money. This year marked the 17th year that the country’s pupils put their business acumen to the test thanks to the Business Development Games, a school initiative brought to pupils by the SAICA and Coronation.
SAICA senior executive, Gugu Makhanya, said SAICA and Coronation invite over 1 000 pupils from around the country to participate in the games every year.
“For young people to realise their full entrepreneurial potential and contribute to the greater economy, companies must be active in moulding their talent, skills and ideas from a young age. With youth unemployment in the country standing at 38.8%, SAICA uses this and other projects to nurture the next generation of job creators by sparking their entrepreneurial spirit at a young age.
“By showing pupils that there is more than one way to contribute to the economy once they leave school, SAICA wants to up-skill pupils who want to become business owners, as many of those who study towards becoming chartered accountants do so with the goal of owning their own business one day.”
Coronation chief executive Anton Pillay said: “We believe that the most important thing that we as a company and a country can do right now is to provide hope to our youth – that they can be adequately educated, opening up more opportunities in life.”