Rondebosch East Primary School pupils have won a R30 000 cash prize in a national entrepreneurship competition.
The school was announced as the top primary school in the province in the Allan Gray Entrepreneurship Challenge, during a gala dinner held in Johannesburg on Friday August 11.
According to Allan Gray Entrepreneurial Challenge project leader Marcel Manikum, around 17 500 pupils from high schools, primary schools and colleges around the country took part in the competition.
All of the Rondebosch East Primary School Grade 2s and Grade 7s participated. The competition took the form of a computer game in which the participants selected either a hot-dog stand or a lemonade stand to turn into a profitable enterprise.
Grade 2 teacher, Naadhirah Bedford said she had entered the competition for the pupils in May.
“In June, they closed the game, and the organisers had to calculate the marks of all the schools, and we were then informed two weeks ago by organisers that we won a prize.”
Grade 7 teacher Carlos Manasse, who teaches economic management sciences, said: “We have been doing entrepreneurship work in the classroom in the lead up to the upcoming market day that will be held at the school.”
Grade 7 pupil Micah Koeries chose the lemonade stand for the challenge. “We had to learn how to make money and also important skills like which suppliers to use,” she said.
Another Grade 7, Sofia Abduroaf, chose the hot-dog stand and said she had had to figure out what would work best for her customers.
Grade 4 pupil Tori-Shae van Rooy, who was chosen to attend the gala dinner with her mother and Ms Bedford, worked on the lemonade stand for the challenge and said: “This game taught me a lot about marketing and how to start a business.”
The school’s principal, Regan Issel, praised the efforts of pupils and teachers involved in the competition.
“I know that our pupils will achieve much more in the years to come,” he said.