Pastel Accounting Olympiad winner announced

Ndebele won the first prize for being the best learner with a 92% mark and walked away with an Apple iPad and a cash prize.

This year's Accounting Olympiad attracted 4,465 Grade 11 and 12 learners from 338 schools across the country. "The enthusiastic participation can be attributed to the fact that more learners and educators are beginning to appreciate the impact that the Olympiad has on improving accounting skills," said Gugu Makhanya, project director for transformation, growth and professional development of SAICA.

Top young accountancy minds

The Olympiad, which began its life as a regional competition in Bloemfontein with long-time sponsor Pastel Accounting, was expanded to a national competition in 2010. It has grown to attract top young accountancy minds from schools across South Africa. The main objective of the Accounting Olympiad is to recognise young accounting talent and encourage interest in accountancy among high school learners.

The runners-up were: Mokwape Molebatsi of Hosea Kekana Secondary in Gauteng; Umar-Farooq Kagee of Rondebosch Boys High School in the Western Cape; Gerben Dracijer of Paul Roos Gimnasium in the Western Cape; and Yusuf Mohamed of Maritzburg College in KwaZulu-Natal, each of whom scored 88%. Each of the runners-up earn cash prizes while nine top-performing schools (one from each province), win desktop computers.

Joanne van der Walt, marketing manager of Sage Pastel Accounting said "We are delighted with the increasing number of participants and we hope to grow the competition in ensuing years. Pastel is included in most school curriculums, so this sustainable partnership with SAICA is a perfect fit for our brand."

The competition identifies accounting talent at school level, popularises accounting as a subject, and draws the link between accounting at school and a possible career in an accounting or business field. This is in line with SAICA's strategy to grow the number of chartered accountants as well as transform the profession.

Van der Walt and Makhanya congratulated the learners and educators who participated and supported the 2013 Olympiad. They challenged other schools and learners to participate in next year's competition. "This is not only about competing, but also about improving the quality of matric passes in the country," said Makhanya.