Mpumelelo Secondary School in Mpumalanga has enthusiastic schoolchildren who have excelled in the JSE Investment Challenge.
Mentored by Teacher Sizwe Mtsweni, the school has won the JSE Investment Challenge several times.
Many of the learners at Mpumelelo Secondary School are eager to gain financial skills they believe will improve their future, and give them independence and access to the wider world.
School teacher, Sizwe Mtsweni, is determined to see these learners achieve as much as they possibly can.
Mpumelelo Secondary School has 500 learners divided into three streams – general, science and commercial.
In just three years the number of teams participating in the JSE Investment Challenge has risen to 13.
Mtsweni is quick to point out that the school provides an enabling environment for teaching and learning. Learners at the school have access to a library, computer lab and science lab amongst other facilities.
The 26-year-old teacher is a former student of the school, where he fell in love with mathematics literacy and tourism – subjects that he teaches today.
Mtsweni says he first heard about the JSE Investment Challenge from his younger brother who was studying at Rhodes University at the time.
Fascinated by the challenge, Mtsweni approached the head of the school. Initially, the head rejected the suggestion that the school enlists and participate in the JSE Investment Challenge.
“When you talk about investments people sometimes assume that it is a scam,” said Mtsweni.
However, after much persuasion including pictures and videos of award ceremonies, in 2020 the principal agreed to let the school participate in the JSE Investment Challenge.
Four students from Mpumelelo Secondary School in Mpumalanga competing as MP Magic Traders generated an income of more than R53 000 on their initial virtual investment of R1 million during the six months of the competition.
Since then, Mtsweni has seen the number of teams grow from five to 13. All in all, the school has 48 learners taking part.
The girls and boys taking part in the competition – from five local communities – are of different ages and are studying varied subject groups.
“The driving force is the support we get from the school,” says Mtsweni.
“Teachers and the principal are 100 percent behind us, they even accommodate us in the timetables to make time for the JSE Investment Challenge. And also the parents of the learners now understand … they have come to realise that this competition is a good thing.”
Every year the competition allows school learners and students from higher learning institutions to invest “virtual” money in the financial markets, giving them a solid understanding of financial instruments and the freedom to learn and speculate without any risk.
Each month the best performing teams and schools in each portfolio received R500 per team member and R500 for the school as well as the supervising teacher or mentor.
In addition, there are five annual cash prizes per portfolio of R60 000 for the top-performing teams.
Looking back, Mtsweni proudly says, “Our learners benefited a lot from this competition. When we started to participate in this competition in 2020 we won two monthly competitions in March and April.”
He says the school also won prizes in July and August that year.
Mtsweni says the success has seen some learners open real accounts to trade shares on the JSE.
Teachers have also done the same along with local youth.
Mtsweni is hopeful the teams he mentors from Mpumelelo Secondary School will continue to do well in various portfolios.
The competition began in March and ends in September.
Teams that are still keen to participate in the Investment Challenge can register electronically at https://schools.jse.co.za and https://university.jse.co.za.
To stay updated, follow the competition’s social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
