Full marks for business-student contest

WE COMMEND the recent competition for secondary school students undertaken by the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, which concluded on November 15 with an inspiring awards ceremony.

In the exercise, which involved 115 form five and six pupils from 35 institutions, entrants competed against one another in a relatively sophisticated simulation developed by a team in Finland and tailored to this region.

They were challenged over their capabilities in managing profit, revenue, demand, investment and expenditure – all while paying attention to sustainability and equity.

It is this latter aspect of the contest that merits particular praise.

The commerce school should be hailed not only for continuing this initiative – the third edition of its kind – but also for ensuring that it provides students with a wider range of considerations in running the shop.

“Business is not about academics alone, it’s something which is lived,” noted Arthur Lok Jack CEO Mariano Browne. “It involves making decisions, making choices and you don’t get that in the classroom.”

Too often there is a disconnect between the textbook and the real world. The signs of this are everywhere.

The Brexit vote of 2016, and, now, the re-election in America of Donald Trump, arguably show gaps between concepts and their application.

In the first, a majority of British voters turned away from the benefits of economic integration, which students are taught about in school – such as economies of scale, specialisation and peace – in favour of isolationism.

In the second, Americans seemed to embrace a candidate who pushes for tariffs.

Yet Google searches for the term “tariff” have spiked over 1650 per cent since November 5 as these voters come to grips with their choice. Mr Trump doubled down on November 25, vowing to hit Canada, China and Mexico with charges as high as 25 per cent, despite the effect this is likely to have on prices.

As every teacher knows, one of the best ways to understand something is to demonstrate it through a well-chosen example. That is what the contest concluded this month aimed to do.

“We’ve sharpened our communication skills, refined our decision making,” said Couva East Secondary School student Skye Craig, accepting the first-place award at the Yara Auditorium, Mt Hope.

However, you can teach students concepts and the ways they unfold in the real world, but there is also the broader issue of ethical corporate practices.

The other side of the coin, in a sense, to the Lok Jack exercise this month was the outreach programme put on by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 20 in Chaguanas.

SEC CEO Kester Guy noted the initiative aims to protect investors by ensuring the market remains fair, transparent and trustworthy.

This is needed now more than ever in the wake of scandals such as the collapse of CL Financial and the rise of a broader cultural moment in which “winning” by any means necessary is venerated above all, threatening to further embroil the global economy.