The Financial Literacy Speech Competition 2021 is back

After a year hiatus (because of the Covid-19 pandemic), the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is pleased to announce the return of the Financial Literacy Speech Competition (FLSC) for 2021.

Initially piloted with just 150 schools in Gauteng in 2016, this popular contest and skills-development initiative has grown considerably into a National event with an admirable impact on the lives of over 3000 learners, their teachers, and families along the way. In 2019 nine provincial winners also received a full bursary covering their tuition, accommodation, textbooks, and stipends for a three-year tertiary qualification. These students are now at university.

Hosted, since inception four years ago, by the FSCA’s Consumer Education Department (CED) and funded by the Financial Services Consumer Education Foundation (FSCEF), this speech competition targets Grade 11 learners from quintile 1 to 3 schools majoring in Business Studies, Economics and Accounting subjects. Learners start competing at classroom level at their respective schools, then progress through the District and Provincial rounds until provincial winners get to represent their provinces at the national finals.

The focus of the competition is to promote financial literacy amongst learners, by encouraging them to research a selected topic, synthesize that research intelligibly, then present the findings in a five-minute speech. Topics range from financial planning, consumer protection, rights and responsibilities, starting a business (entrepreneurship) and engaging with Financial Services Providers (FSPs). After the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2020 academic year, Grade 11 learners were required to focus only on their academic curriculum and no extra mural activities were allowed. The competition was thus put on hold for the 2020 academic year.

The good news is that the FSCA has decided to continue this sought-after competition for the year 2021, this time leveraging digital technology to virtually facilitate the competition online. At school-level, through classroom elimination, teachers will identify the first-round winners then upload the winners’ presentation video to a dedicated platform (www.fscaspeechcomp.co.za). The schools’ winning video will then be adjudicated remotely by a panel of FSCA-appointed judges selected from the financial services industry and the Provincial Departments of Education (DBE) through all rounds of the competition.

Up for grabs for the competing learners are mouth-watering investment prizes of R30 000, R15 000 and R7 500 per province for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places respectively. At the national finals, a further R30 000, R15 000 and R7 500 will be available for the respective winners. For the 2021 edition three full bursaries will be up for grabs at the national finals, over and above the individual bounty.

With a minimum of 5000 learners from more than 500 schools earmarked to participate in the FLSC 2021, family members, classmates, educators and social media audiences also stand to benefit by participating in the competition by rooting for their favourites and encouraging them as they rehearse for the grueling finals. The competition is scheduled to run from September 2021 to February 2022.

The 2021 FSCA Financial Literacy Speech Competition is made possible through funding from the FSCEF, support from the Financial Planning Institute (FPI) of Southern Africa and logistic support from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and Provincial Departments of Education (PDEs).

To participate on the online conversation, check out the FSCA’s social media pages using #FLSC2021SA. For more information on the speech competition or queries, email Colin.Stevens@fsca.co.za or visit www.fscaspeechcomp.co.za.