Standard Bank supports massive practice of Chess
Standard Bank offered on Monday (June 11) equipment to the Matola Chess Academy, in order to support a project that aims the mass practice of chess in primary schools in Maputo. The equipment consists of chess tables and pieces, books as well as T-shirts. The amount also includes the payment of expenses related to the project.
During a press conference organized for the official delivery of the material granted, the Managing Director of Standard Bank, Antonio Coutinho, said that one of the main commitments of the Bank’s Corporate Social Involvement Strategy is education.
Antonio Coutinho took the opportunity to talk about the importance of the practice of chess on children, since it builds some skills that are necessary for the intellectual development of this age group.
“Standard Bank supports this initiative as a way to contribute for more Mozambicans to have quality training, education and opportunities for human and intellectual development. Standard Bank also sees this project as an opportunity to better occupy the leisure time of children in a healthy way” - he explained.
In the first phase of the project, 150 teachers will be trained to teach chess in 104 primary schools in the city of Maputo. But it is estimated that by 2013, three thousand teachers will be trained and that the project will benefit 9.000 pupils in one thousand primary schools in Mozambique.
Chess was introduced five years ago in some primary schools in the city of Matola. The project is intended to be implemented in Maputo, as well as in other provinces of the country, and financial support is extremely important for achieving this objective. “For a project of such dimension to move forward, we need funding similar to what Standard Bank has agreed to provide and eventually from whoever wants to support us” - said Domingos Langa, director of the Matola Chess Academy.
In addition to teacher training, the project includes the implementation of school and interprovincial tournaments.
During a press conference organized for the official delivery of the material granted, the Managing Director of Standard Bank, Antonio Coutinho, said that one of the main commitments of the Bank’s Corporate Social Involvement Strategy is education.
Antonio Coutinho took the opportunity to talk about the importance of the practice of chess on children, since it builds some skills that are necessary for the intellectual development of this age group.
“Standard Bank supports this initiative as a way to contribute for more Mozambicans to have quality training, education and opportunities for human and intellectual development. Standard Bank also sees this project as an opportunity to better occupy the leisure time of children in a healthy way” - he explained.
In the first phase of the project, 150 teachers will be trained to teach chess in 104 primary schools in the city of Maputo. But it is estimated that by 2013, three thousand teachers will be trained and that the project will benefit 9.000 pupils in one thousand primary schools in Mozambique.
Chess was introduced five years ago in some primary schools in the city of Matola. The project is intended to be implemented in Maputo, as well as in other provinces of the country, and financial support is extremely important for achieving this objective. “For a project of such dimension to move forward, we need funding similar to what Standard Bank has agreed to provide and eventually from whoever wants to support us” - said Domingos Langa, director of the Matola Chess Academy.
In addition to teacher training, the project includes the implementation of school and interprovincial tournaments.