Overview:
The NSC, Stanbic Bank's flagship corporate social investment program, aims to empower youth and improve access to quality education. This year's edition saw a significant increase in participation, with 265 schools applying, up from 100 in the previous year.
KAMPALA, Uganda – The 9th edition of the Stanbic National Schools’ Championship (NSC) has showcased the incredible innovative potential of Ugandan students, with winning projects ranging from a versatile cleaning machine to a gamified learning platform.
St. Joseph High School Namagunga’s Sani Troll, a trolley-like machine that can mow, scrub, and mop simultaneously, took top honors in the Student Spark category. The brainchild of Elton Kigozi and Gordon Walugembe, Sani Troll demonstrates the students’ ability to think creatively and develop practical solutions to everyday problems.
“It’s like a trolley in the supermarket and the ‘Sani’ comes from the word sanitation, because basically it is a cleaning machine,” said Elton Kigozi, co-designer of Sani Troll.
The NSC, Stanbic Bank’s flagship corporate social investment program, aims to empower youth and improve access to quality education. This year’s edition saw a significant increase in participation, with 265 schools applying, up from 100 in the previous year.
“We want in a special way to thank Stanbic Bank for moving on this journey. As the Ministry of Education and Sports, we want to thank you very much for this 9th edition in a row and this year, I am most touched to note the issue of numbers of raised for participating schools,” said George Mutekanga, Commissioner of Private Schools and Institutions at the Ministry of Education.
“Our concern as the Ministry, has and always will be because this is a National School Championship, can we come up with a strategy to bring on-board all the 20 sub-regions of this country,” Mutekanga added.
“In a program like this, there’s only winners and I want to commend and thank each one of you who has reached this point. And not just for you, but for all those who participated but who are not here today,” said Sam Mwogeza, Stanbic Bank Executive Director.
“I was moving around earlier and speaking to some of the students. The passion with which they share their ideas and the clarity of vision on the desired impact is exceptional. I can tell you that some of the marketing briefs I’ve had today are far better than any I’ve had in a long time. So well done again to all of you,” Mwogeza said.
Other winning projects included Skool Bike Uganda’s affordable bicycle transport system, Sheema Girls School’s Gamified Learning platform, and Katwe Noor S.S’s Library Information Simplified platform. These innovations address pressing issues such as absenteeism, low student morale, and limited access to library resources.
“Last week, we returned from Eastern Uganda trip that we had started in Fort Portal two weeks ago and we travelled as part of a nationwide tour of the schools that had emerged top in various categories. We went to visit the projects and to appraise them and we were blown away by what we saw,” said Diana Ondoga, CSI Manager at Stanbic Bank.
“More than a dozen projects drawn from all regions of Uganda faced off, in a grueling final that followed several months of a competitive process which attracted the participation of over 60,000 students representing over 100 schools in over 100 districts of Uganda,” Ondoga added.