It is not enough to only foster cognitive intelligence among the youth. A well-structured national policy for development of multiple intelligences is vital for making Sri Lanka a global power.
The world has come around to the view that democracy is essential for full human development and only education and skill development can make this possible. The International Youth Convention on Commerce and Economics (IYCC) was introduced with this idea in mind. Organised by the City Montessori School, Lucknow, IYCC celebrated its fourth chapter this year.
The event took place in Lucknow, India, from October 28 to 31. 72 teams of school children from India as well as form foreign nations like Nepal, Russia and Brazil took part in the event. The competition was based mostly on questions and activities related to Commerce and Economics. Participants competed under the seven categories: E Manage, Cultural Event, Ad-venture, Com.net, Bull vs Bear, Buiz Quiz and B –Plan.
Ananda College, Colombo, took part and made a significant impact by managing to win a handful of accolades. The team comprised of Vinura Dulan, Pasindu Jayasekara, Devinda Siyambalagaspitiya, Ashan Kodituwakku, Keshan Gunasekara, Achira Induja, Disith Ravimal, Romesh de Silva and Ravishka Chandraratne. They clinched second place in both the cultural event as well as the E Manage event. They won a consolation prize in the Ad-venture and Com.net items. They were able to make it to the final round in the Buiz Quiz. Commerce Section Head S B B Yamuna Kumarihami and English teacher Asha Perera were the teachers who guided the boys towards success.
This is the second time that the school had taken part in the event. They had taken part in the competition in 2011. They had only gotten a prize for participation then. City Montessori School had sent applications inviting them to join this year as well.
Each item they had taken part in had tested and enhanced the skills of the students. The whole team took part in the cultural item and eight of them were also part of the Ad-venture item. Two boys each took part in the rest of the categories. Keshan faced the Bull vs Bear debate.
The boys had to stage an advertisement for the Ad-venture category. They chose to market a chocolate which they named ‘Marvelo’.
“We chose to go for a chocolate because it is everyone’s favourite food item. Some of us dressed as female characters to present the advertisement. We even developed a wrapper for the chocolate,” explained the team leader Vinura Dulan.
For the B-Plan the Anandians came up with a toffee named ‘Vista’ which can be taken to get rid of wheezing. The most challenging event for many of the boys was the cultural event. They had a fusion dance item in which they did a variety of dances ranging from the Kandyan to the low country and Sabaragamuwa dance styles. Dance teacher Manjula Piyaratne trained them.
“Though there were a few who had excelled in dancing and had even obtained the Ves status, many of us were new to the subject,” Pasindu Jayasekara said.
They made an eco friendly video on energy conservation in hotel and trade for E-Manage. They used solar power to reduce energy consumption in the project. Mount Lavinia Hotel General Manager Navindra Wijesinghe, Director Karsim and Executive Manager Sanjeewa assisted them in this item. Harith Ratnayaka, Gangana Kisal Ganepola, Nipun Samarasinghe and Dinith Nirmal too helped make the video. They mostly engaged in the project work during the weekends and practiced the dance item after school.
Many of the boys were dazzled by the Nepalese cultural dance item.
“That was very colourful and entertaining. It won first place,” Ashan Kodituwakku said.
“We met a lot of other youth at the event. They taught us new things. We still keep in touch with them and interact with them. We also got to know what it was like taking part in an international competition. You need to maintain your standards to be on par with the global economic sector. We learnt our shortcomings and how to amend them by watching the presentations from the other teams,” Ravishka Chandraratne said.
“We learnt many things by taking part in the event through experience. Rather than limiting yourself to books practical knowledge counts a lot. We also learnt to work as a team during the rounds. Since we were in a foreign land away from home we learnt to stand by each other and look after each other’s needs,” Kehsan Gunasekara expressed.
Speaking about his experience taking part in the competition Romesh de Silva said that he believes that their team did well compared with the rest of the other teams. The questions were based on the Indian syllabus and though that was different from the Sri Lankan syllabus, they managed to overcome that trial with winning colours.
“Our parents supported us all the way. We are also grateful to our principal S M Keerthirathna, the Mount Lavinia Hotel, our teachers and all those who helped us in various ways on our path to success,” Achira Induja concluded.
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