Mpumelelo School wins big with JSE

The main aim of the challenge was to improve the financial literacy of South Africa’s young people by educating them about the fundamentals of investment strategy and various investment options.

It gave groups of up to four learners a virtual trading account of R1m to invest on the JSE, competing against other teams across the country for six months.

There were four categories; income, equity, speculating for high schools and speculating for universities/colleges. Monthly prizes were awarded to winning team members, their schools, and the teachers who helped with their financial literacy education through the competition.

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At the end, final prizes were awarded to each member of the top five teams in the three different categories and the top three teams in the university competition, with additional prizes for their teacher and their school.

Mpumelelo Secondary School was represented by four students competing as MP Magic Traders and managed to generate an income of more than R53 000 on their initial virtual investment of R1m during the six months of the competition.

MP Magic Traders and other teams from the school repeatedly won monthly prizes for building the best-performing investment portfolio and consistently outperforming other schools.

According to Ralph Speirs, the JSE’s CSI officer, the school’s success demonstrated how hungry these learners were to acquire knowledge and skills that will directly affect their future.

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Speirs said their performance was particularly outstanding, since the school has extremely limited resources and its learners were introduced to investments for the first time through the JSE Investment Challenge. “Their win was a clear statement that financial literacy is accessible to anyone regardless of their background and prior knowledge.

It showed that through determination and grit, schools can learn and excel in putting into practice financial literacy skills,” Speirs said. Sizwe Mtshweni, the schoolteacher who mentored the teams, said he appreciated the competition for what it was doing for the learners and their community. “Our desire is to see learners leave the education environment with a good understanding of how to use their disposable income and acquire healthy savings habits,” he said.

“This was an incredible achievement by our school.”