By Our Correspondent, Damaturu
Seventy-two schools and 144 students from across the 17 local government areas of Yobe State are set to participate in the third edition of the Yobe Spelling Bee Competition scheduled for August 24 to 26.
The competition, organised by the Yobe State Government in partnership with private-sector organisations, is aimed at promoting literacy, vocabulary development and academic excellence among junior secondary school students.
Abdullahi Bego, who disclosed this in a post on his Facebook page, said the competition was also designed to build participants’ confidence and discipline while encouraging healthy academic competition among schools.
He said the initiative formed part of the efforts of the administration of Governor Mai Mala Buni to reposition basic and secondary education and expand access to quality and functional education across the state.
According to him, the participating schools were selected through a framework based on data from the Yobe State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
“Damaturu and Potiskum received the highest allocation of eight schools each, comprising five public and three private schools,” Bego quoted the Director of Schools at SUBEB, Abdullahi Haladu, as saying.
He added that Bade and Nguru were allocated six schools each, while Geidam and Gujba received five schools each.
“The remaining local government areas were allocated three schools each, consisting of two public schools and one private school,” he said.
Bego said the selection was gender-sensitive, with each participating school expected to present one male and one female contestant.
He added that the schools that emerged first and second in the previous edition were given automatic qualification in recognition of their performances.
The competition is sponsored by the Yobe State Government, with Nigeria Food Corporation as the Exclusive Premium Gold Sponsor and GREYLAND as Gold Sponsor, while other private organisations are supporting the event as Silver Sponsors under their corporate social responsibility initiatives.
