Interview with Ing. Kateřina Berková, Ph.D., main organizer of the competition "Accounting versus Accounting"

The „úchtování versus úgendarmerie“ contest will be probíhat in an online environment this year. In what ways will it be most different fromprevious years

One of the biggest changes is definitely that the competition cí and the teacher cí will not be able to meet them during the competition there will be aacute; contact. For example, every year we have prepared a šcolaštour for úfrequent´participants, which we will not be able to realize this year for obviousýreasons. However, we have prepared aá ná castle´ program. We will use the Zoom platform to communicate with the competitors and teachers, in which the úá&waterá& will take place; openingá, presentationá ofá šcollegesá and individualá disciplines as well as ofá é šená ofá competition tracks. The test itself, which is part of the competition, is then prepared in the Moodle VŠPJ Moodle machine. Markéta Lexová, Ph.D.) will be connectedé on Zoom to be at the hand of the competition in case of their questions or if there should be any technical problem.

What has been the biggestý&invitation for Vá&s iná&ing the online form of the competition?

The biggest výchallenge was the technicalé aspect. Running aádáná online form of the competition requires great technical proficiency and highánáyears on informationá literacy and digitalisation. The mostá&year&scaron& í was to prepare the test through´& Moodle so that it would work without anyé& problems and we didn't make anyé& mistakes. We had to learn to anticipateímat certainé situations and soé look at them through the students' lens. My hands, on the other hand, were loosened ináce in the organization. Thešing´ ofš lunch&snacks´ or student helpers, who´ are usually in charge of the supervision of the competition,še in této online variant fallá away. Although in this respect Iám far less práce with the organization, Iám bound to say that I miss it a bitá and I would definitely be happyái if the competition was held physically.

Whaté themedé circles can theé contestants&eachá take thisštút?"

The name of the competition itself hints at what the competitioníá expectá. Some may find this name a bit too štní, but it accurately describes the whole é of the competition. Indeed, manyé peopleé thinké thaté theé gendarmerieé revolvesé only aroundé theé gendarmesé. But this represents only a fraction of the wholeéfield. Therefore, the competition is set up so that students are not just able to hearátat, zaúread and include in those správných šboxes, but also to be able to think about the reálnýlnýme economicýimpacts of aé situation, e.g. theélný items of a company. As far as theý thematicý headings are concerned, I can reveal that this year the test will be focusedý oný issues and  of course, practicality will enter into it, such asý theý importanceý ofý fixedý assets and the like. In the rámce of the competition, we try to go this way of practicality and select suchámata thatáare practicalá for economicý life.

Howý do you observe among highý school&scaron&college students about the competition ofájem?"

Competitions have been steadily úfrequentú around four to five highúschools from threeú regions, namely the Highlands, the Centraléregion and soé the Southéregion. We also get a positive response from the teachers from theúfrequentedýrounds, who confirm´ that the competition really bringsú newé knowledge and experience to the students, especially on the professionalé side. We are soápleased that 30% of the 2019 competitorsácách have started to study at the&scaroná š š š college in the academicéyear 2019/2020. We therefore think that the competition is also aýborným námachine to reach and engage potentialální students.

With less than aý tý day left to compete. How are youšíte?

We hopeáe hope that we have hopefully caught theámce ináe so that there is noám ofáThe competition, which has become such a tradition at the &scaron í &scaron ´ &scaron ´ round, took place without any major &scaron í surprises. In connection with this, I would like to thank the wholeé team of colleagues, not only from the Department of Economicý Studies, but also the staff of the operatingý department, secretariesá or students. Thanksání soénálieí to the managementá of the Department of Economicých Studiesí and VŠPJ for supporting thiséto event. And soé I cannot forget the support of sponsors not only from the applicationé sphere. The prizes for this year's event were donated by the organizations Eurocentrum Jihlava, Martina Puchnerová, Účetní Portál a.s., Požární safety and Vysoká škola polytechnická Jihlava. Although it may not be obvious at firstý glance, the competition was attended by a lot of people, without whom it would be very difficult to make it allé. It's definitely not just about coming up with a test and sending out pár emails to šcol.