A team of four learners of Midrand High School participated in the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) schools challenge in which they finished sixth out of eight schools.
The four girls, who are all in Grade 12, were Odirile Galedisang Mphahlele, Rixaka Maluleka, Shanice van Wyk and Cassidy Damons.
The competition was held by the South African Reserve Bank in partnership with the Department of Basic Education at Premier Hotel Midrand on August 31.
The challenge is aimed at exposing learners to the processes of the MPC in determining the repo and inflation rates among others.
It also offers an opportunity for Grade 12 economics learners and their teachers to become ‘members’ of the committee for a few weeks where they undergo gruelling questioning from an MPC panel.
Midrand High economics teacher Sarah Kibuuku said, “This competition affords our learners with an opportunity to experience what happens in real life from what they learn in class. We teach monetary policy but now they were able to be part of the policy and come up with critical decisions through their reports. I think this has opened many doors for them and will go a long way for them to pursue their desired careers.”
She urged all economics teachers to encourage their learners to take part in this competition as it could allow learners to become future economists.
Midrand High has participated in the competition since it was established as a pilot project in 2012 and in 2019, the school won the challenge.
To date, the competition has reached more than 3 200 learners of 400 schools nationally.
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