Kivaan gives good account of himself in olympiad
Kivaan hopes to continue his legacy of finishing first in his grade from grade 8.
Kingsway High School’s Kivaan Naidu was second overall and first male in KZN’s top achievers at public schools in this year’s national accounting olympiad.
The annual olympiad, which is run by the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA), is open to all grade 12 pupils in public and private schools who study accountancy or mathematics.
It aims to increase awareness among them of the importance of accounting to the South African economy, as well as the range of career opportunities available to them.
“I was hoping to do well but I wasn’t expecting to come second,” said Kivaan. The competition consists of two rounds, each consisting of a two-hour examination. The first round, written in May, saw 3,510 pupils from 310 schools competing. A total of 980 pupils, consisting of the top three pupils in each region, qualified to enter the second round on 27 July.
The final round required candidates to deal with calculations, case studies, scenarios, financial statements, recording and posting procedures and more.
“The paper was very difficult and different to what we do at school,” said the 17-year-old.
Those who achieved 65% or more during the first round of the olympiad and qualified for the second round also received a printed exam study guide sponsored by Sage One, which provided pupils with valuable career and bursary information.
The competition has been running since 2002, with SAIPA’s focus being to provide papers and literature that can be used by all South African pupils, including those for whom English is a second language. It is an approach designed to lead to the abstract, higher order thinking required to solve problems – exactly the kind of issues accountants face in real life.
The national and provincial winners will be honoured at a formal national gala awards evening on 12 October.
Kivaan hopes to continue his legacy of finishing first in his grade from grade 8 and his goal to crowned the top pupil at Kingsway after finals. “Trials went well and I hope to keep up my marks for finals. I’m confident to get a good mark for my accountancy trial exam. 100% is always my goal and I will aim for top marks in accountancy, maths, business studies and science in my finals. For my remaining subjects I will be satisfied with high As.”
Kivaan is also a top chess master and captained his school team this year. He has been selected for the KZN team since he was a grade 5 pupil at Athlone Park Primary. He also helped the KZN team win the South Coast league this year.
His goal is to study actuarial science at the University of Cape Town next year.
