On September 10, 2019, the first international finale of the Economics Olympiad took place in the Czech national bank in Prague. Slovakia was excellently represented by five students from whom two reached the first two medal positions.
High school students undoubtedly proved that despite reports of low financial literacy of Slovaks, there are many exceptionally talented young economists who will not get lost even in international comparison.
In national rounds in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, there were more than 20 000 high school students who competed against each other, however, only 15 finalists had the opportunity to challenge their knowledge in a direct comparison.
The international round of the Economics Olympiad welcomed the brightest minds of economics. The contestants were subjected to a written test, in which they needed to prove their ability to argue a case, analytical thinking and to justify their conclusions.
Afterwards, there was the oral round in which they needed to justify their knowledge in front of a professional jury. Members of the jury were Pavel Potužák (INEV, the Czech Republic), Monika Budzák (INESS, Slovakia) a Gyula Pletchinger (the National bank of Hungary). The tests were conducted in English, which was no obstacle for contestants.
After the final evaluation, the jury set the final ranking. The winner of the first international round of the Economics Olympiad was Jakub Kučerák, a fresh graduate from Grammar school of Jur Hronec, Bratislava. Šimon Pekár from Bilingual grammar school of Milan Hodža, Sučany, who is also the winner of Slovak finale of the Olympiad, took the silver place.
Finally, a graduate of grammar school of Matyáš Lerch, Brno, Jan Pytela took the third place.
“The questions were very well structured, they were aimed at arguing cases more in the real world. The Economics Olympiad is a huge step forward for everyone in the common education system, because it teaches him/her how to think and how to prepare for the real world.” – said Jakub Kučerák, the winner of the international round of the Economic Olympiad 2018/2019
The Economics Olympiad is an international competition in economics and finances. In Slovakia, it is organized by Iness – Institute of Economic and Social Studies. The first international finale was established on the basis of cooperation between Czech Institute of Economic Education (INEV) and Hungarian National bank, with the kind support of the Visegrad Fund.
Registration for the new year of the Economics Olympiad is already open, schools can register at: www.ekonomickaolympiada.sk.