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UPIS students place first in Youth In Action Case Competition
Three senior high school students of the University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) won first place in the “Youth In Action (YIA) 2021: The Youth in Time of Crisis Case Study Competition” held online last February 27.
The team of Robert Ambat, Magan Basilio, and Justin Polendey of Batch 2021 was announced as the overall champion of the competition.
Youth In Action 2021: The Youth in Time of Crisis is a case study competition where teams were tasked to write a 3000-word case study addressing Brazil’s failed policies on Education, Healthcare, and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The top 10 teams that passed the first screening presented their outputs through a pitch-style presentation and defended it in front of a panel of experts involved in the Philippines' COVID-19 response.
Most of their preparation involved extensive research into Brazil’s current state and the structure of their social institutions like their healthcare system, legislative processes, and government. The representatives also took a different approach with the case by studying certain countries that have been successful so far against the pandemic. They took insights from countries such as Taiwan, Thailand, Germany, New Zealand, and Greece to know what helped them succeed, how Brazil is different, and how they can apply these countries’ strategies in their proposed policies.
“Winning first place was actually a pleasant surprise. During the competition, our team encountered a lot of challenges due to the difficulty of the case and the feasibility of the proposals we were coming up with. I guess, more than winning, the experience taught me that the best solutions are not only innovative and creative, but are also grounded and cognizant of the constraints of reality. In fact, one of the judges commended our argumentation and understanding of the current situation in Brazil. We think our focus on building realistic solutions heavily based on the hard facts of the situation was what helped us succeed,” Ambat said.
The participants also attended a series of talks and educational discussions about the status of the Philippines’s COVID-19 response and how certain sectors are expected to respond and recover from the effects of the pandemic. //by Liane Bachini and Jemuell San Jose
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