ACCA SRI LANKA themes their “ESCAPE THE CHALLENGE 2021” competition on the UN Sustainability Development Goals
ACCA recently concluded another successful chapter of their annual competition, “Escape the Challenge 2021”. The competition that was launched initially with the aim of helping to upskill and foster talent to meet the greater need for innovation required by today’s organisations, has been a resounding success year on year with the many number of schools participating in the competition increasing with each year. This year’s competition in spite of the challenges posed by the Pandemic was participated by students and teams from over 100 schools across the country.
ACCA with their commitment to the UNSDG Goals that include offering access to a quality finance and accountancy education free from artificial barriers, committing to ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2030, and working in partnership to build an inclusive global profession that supports the development of ethical, sustainable and successful businesses and economies, focused on this important topic as the theme for this year’s competition.
The judging criteria was based on understanding of the problem presented, the use of best practices, the practicality of the solutions, overall quality of the presentation, its attractiveness, follow up instructions and language.
Showcasing fierce competition with an aim to win, the schools were very ably matched as they competed with each other to bag the winning title. The overall winner was Ananda College with the 1st Runner up being Girls’ High School - Kandy. The 2nd Runner up was awarded to Methodist
College Colombo. Special recognition awards were presented to teams represented Dharmaraja College – Kandy, Fathima Girls’ School – Puttalam, Mahamaya Girls’ College - Kandy, Visakha Vidyalaya - Colombo, Central College - Veyangoda, Lyceum International School - Wattala, Sri Saranankara National College - Bingiriya, Maliyadeva Girls College – Kurunegala, Devi Balika Vidyalaya - Colombo, Central college – Matara, Bandaranayake College – Gampaha, Lumbini College - Colombo.
Panel of judges comprised of a team of experienced industry experts that comprised of Mahen Muttiah, University Lecturer, Director/ Head of Research at Vanguard Survey (Pvt) Ltd, Nandika Buddhipala, Chairman, Member Network Panel ACCA Sri Lanka and Chief Financial Officer, Commercial Bank PLC, Suren Rajakarier, ACCA Member and Partner KPMG Sri Lanka, Sajindu Perera – ACCA Member, Deputy General Manager, Finance at MAS Holdings
Outlining the thinking behind this competition and its theme Nilusha Ranasinghe, Head of ACCA Sri Lanka commented, “It is important that our Next Generation be active architects in the Sustainable development Goals and continue to be engaged in the frameworks and processes that support its implementation. Their active engagement is central to achieving sustainable, inclusive and stable societies and to averting the worst threats and challenges to sustainable development. Our
intention therefore was to build awareness amongst school children on related topics and as such we utilized this competition as a platform to make this happen .
ACCA with their purpose, values and strategy to already align closely to the SDGs, and their whole-hearted commitment to delivering on them, will continue their quest in playing a key role in the transformational change business and society needs to see over the next decade in terms of sustainability and inclusion.