Johannesburg – Financial education for learners in high school should be mandatory at all schools in the country, this is according to Phyllis Walsh, teacher and mentor at Eden College in Durban.
Walsh’s sentiments are a result of her experience mentoring a team of four learners in the JSE Investment Challenge which teaches learners and students how to trade financial instruments and, in the process, acquire valuable insight into financial markets, investments and how to build investment portfolios.
Her team, “The Yammer Yummerers”, won the July prize in the Speculator Portfolio for schools in the JSE Investment Challenge.
Walsh has turned into an ambassador for both the Investment Challenge and financial literacy.
She believes that the knowledge gained from participating in the JSE Investment Challenge is invaluable and has now taken it upon herself to spread the word about the Investment Challenge competition as far and wide as possible.
According to Walsh, the Investment Challenge is good for everyone.
“Even our teachers can benefit a lot from the exposure to financial literature that the Investment Challenge offers to our learners and students,” says Walsh.
“They can use the expertise to improve their personal financial aspirations. The Investment Challenge is absolutely wonderful and adds a practical, impactful dimension to learners’ school experience.”
Ralph Speirs, the JSE’s CSI Officer says it is the JSE’s intention to bring financial literacy to as many learners, students, and public as possible.
“At the beginning of each year, we go on roadshows to attract more students and learners to participate in the Investment Challenge,” says Speirs.
“Those that have tried the competition, whether they win the monthly or the annual prizes, continue to trade because they see the value of the knowledge they acquire in the process.”
In some schools, the competition has become so popular that a single school in Mpumalanga has registered about 13 different teams.
“Their passion for the Investment Challenge is self-evident as the school, Mpumelelo Secondary School, has become a serial winner of the monthly prizes in the competition,” says Speirs.
“In July, two teams from the school won the Income and Equity Portfolios in the school category.”
The JSE also runs a competition similar to the Investment Challenge but specifically for the general public called the JSE Virtual Trading Game. Members of the public can participate in learning to invest and trade financial instruments.
Winners for the July 2022 monthly Investment Challenge competition include:
Income category:
MP Prize Winners from Mpumelelo Secondary School in Mpumalanga
Equity portfolio:
MP The Stars from Mpumelelo Secondary School in Mpumalanga
Speculator portfolio for schools:
The Yammer Yummerers from Eden College Durban in KZN
Speculator portfolio for universities:
Value Creators from the University of South Africa (UNISA) in Gauteng.
Teams can register electronically at https://schools.jse.co.za and https://university.jse.co.za and to stay updated, follow the competition’s social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
