at the regional level, many of our economic education specialists offer training seminars to help educators teach economic and personal finance topics in their classrooms. in general, higher education is one of the strong points of the u. s. educational system. we must work diligently to maintain the quality of our educational system where it is strong and strive to improve it where it is not. in particular, we must find ways to move more of our students, especially minorities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, into education after high school. the historically black colleges and universities have long played a vital role in this regard. they have proud record of accomplishment, dating back to 1837 with the founding of what is now cheyney university of pennsylvania. slavery and segregation cast long dark shadows on our nation's history and our society, and the historically black colleges and universities served as beacons of knowledge in the darkness. today, they are no longer the only places a young african american woman or man can obtain an education, but they are very fine choices for many students, and not just african americans – indeed, 90 four - year and 13 two - year institutions enroll more than 300, 000 students, including more than 50, 000 who are not african americans. in 2006, these institutions conferred more than 30, 000 undergraduate degrees and nearly 9, 000 advanced degrees. they have maintained their relevance by building on their tradition of educational excellence and by harnessing the loyalty and support of alumni. there are indeed many distinguished alumni of hbcus, including media personality and philanthropist oprah winfrey, professor and nobel prize - winning author toni morrison, former u. s. surgeon general david satcher, brown university president ruth j. simmons, and major general dennis via, among many others. i wish you a very successful conference. you have much to celebrate and, doubtless, much to discuss as you strive to find ways to carry the rich heritage of the historically black colleges and universities into the future.

mpc schools challenge winners announcement wednesday, 31 august 2022 speaking notes for lesetja kganyago, governor of the south african reserve bank ( sarb ) good afternoon esteemed guests, bank officials, learners, and those join us online. i wish to acknowledge the presence of colleagues from the ministry of basic education led by minister angie motshekga. we are grateful for the privilege of working in partnership with the department of basic education ( dbe ) on the mpc schools challenge. as usual, representatives from all provincial departments of education collaborated with us from the very beginning, culminating in today ’ s announcement of the winners of the competition. this year, for the very first time we also extended an invitation to independent schools through the independent examination board ( ieb ), and i am happy that they too could join us here today. as some of you may recall, in 2021 we suspended the challenge due to the covid pandemic. in 2021, we hosted the entire process virtually. this year we introduced a hybrid approach, something we hope to continue to do going forward. we are pleased that 225 schools attended the briefing sessions for learners and teachers, and 102 schools submitted essays that are required to proceed to the next level of the competition. these essays are prepared in the same format as the sarb mpc statement. the statement must reflect global and domestic economic conditions and factors and reflect the decision of the learners on its monetary policy stance. it ’ s pleasing to note that essays were received from all provinces, confirming that this is indeed a national competition. assessment of candidates the essays received were subjected to a rigorous marking and moderation process. bank economists, representatives from the dbe and ieb participated in this process. eight schools made the final cut and had to present their mpc statement to a panel of judges – this part of the challenge was done in person. the judging panel was composed of senior staff of the bank ’ s economic research department. representatives from the dbe and ieb remained in the venue throughout all learner presentations and deliberations by judges about the ranking of finalists – a transparent and inclusive process. over the years, a trend has been forming. girls seem to make up the majority of finalists. this year 26 out of 32 finalists are female, so that makes it more than 80 % female. this is a trend worth noting, particularly during the month of august. officials were also happy with the quality of presentations as well as the confidence