Accountancy olympiad winners
Two learners from the Brebner and Navalsig High Schools will soon have the opportunity to study towards becoming chartered accountants [CAs(SA)], compliments of Softline Pastel and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).
Pastel Thuthuka Accountancy Olympiad
The Olympiad is sponsored by Softline Pastel and run by the Thuthuka Education Upliftment Fund, the transformation initiative of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). It involves sixty selected schools which offer Grade 11 and 12 accounting in the Free State, an area that doesn’t often receive the benefit of corporate sponsorship.
The winning student gets a bursary to study accounting at university. Each participating school gets a free copy of the Pastel Certified School Program, exposing students to computerised accounting while enabling them to learn accounting in a fun, interactive way.
The Olympiad’s main aim is to address racial imbalances in the ranks of South African CAs by encouraging students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to consider accounting as a career. However, the Olympiad is open to all races – skills development across the board is vital to the South Africa economy.
Some interesting statistics:
• Of the 27 933 Chartered Accountants [CAs(SA)] currently registered with SAICA 6 313 are based overseas. Click here to see the graph.
• Of the 27 933, [CAs(SA)], 1 132 are Africans (up from 931 in 2007). Click here to see the graph.
• Of the 27 933, [CAs(SA)], 7 327 are female (all race groups and up from 6706 in 2007). Click here to see the graph
Richard Yang and Tholoana Maketha clinched the two top positions in the recent Pastel Thuthuka Accountancy Olympiad. This makes them eligible for full bursaries, pending their final matriculation results and subject to meeting the relevant bursary criteria.
Joanne van der Walt, Softline Pastel marketing manager, congratulated Yang and Maketha on their outstanding achievement, adding: “Pastel is pleased to be associated with this transformation initiative. It presents a great opportunity for Pastel to contribute towards growing the number of chartered accountants in South Africa.”
The hunt for talent
The Accountancy Olympiad is a joint initiative by Softline Pastel and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), through SAICA’s flagship Thuthuka Educational Upliftment Project.
“One of the project’s objectives is to unearth the nation’s potential accountancy talent and provide support to previously disadvantaged learners to study towards a career as a Chartered Accountant,” says Tonia Jackson, SAICA Project Director for Transformation and Growth. “A cornerstone SAICA strategy is to transform its membership demographics to reflect the population demographics of the country – a goal shared by Softline Pastel.”
Brebner High School excels
In addition to producing the 2008 Olympiad’s top performer, Brebner High School accounted for six of the top 14 performers, including Ofentse Seate, a grade 11 learner who was placed third overall – a feat that has won the school four desktop computers and Pastel software.
Jackson congratulated Brebner High School’s educators for having played such a significant role in producing so many top students.
Welkom High School’s Maggy Ledwaba was last year’s winner of the Pastel Thuthuka Accounting Olympiad, which has served as a platform for South Africa’s women to make impressive inroads into the nation’s elite chartered accountancy profession.
Working with the Department of Education
Since its inception in 2006, the Olympiad has reached more than 2 500 learners. Schools that participate in the Accountancy Olympiad are selected by their respective district officials in the Department of Education. The top 15 accounting students from each school are then invited to take part in the Olympiad.
Both van der Walt and Jackson single out Department of Education officials for the enormous contribution they have made towards the success of the Olympiad.
This year, a total of 722 learners from 55 schools participated compared with 45 schools in 2007.
Softline Pastel will target 900 learners in 2009. “Our ultimate aim is to grow business leadership through the accountancy profession, thereby contributing toward the long-term prosperity of the South African economy,” says van der Walt.
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