The Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) announced on Friday that they are organizing the 2nd Yobe Spelling Bee Competition, scheduled to take place in July 2024.
The theme of the competition is “Spelling to Improve Learning: A Key to Resilience.”
The competition aims to promote resilience among young pupils, particularly those from conflict-affected communities, by providing a platform for them to compete with their peers from across the 17 local government areas of the state.
A total of 72 public, private, and special schools have been identified, and 142 students from these schools will participate in the competition.
Each school will have two representatives, a male and a female, who will be accompanied by a teacher or guardian. The students and their accompanying teachers or guardians will be accommodated in a conducive hotel in Damaturu for three days.
The competition will consist of three stages:
the Preliminary Stage, Round 2, and the Knock Out Stage. In the Preliminary Stage, all contestants will have an equal chance to participate and get familiar with the rules. In Round 2, contestants will take turns picking a word to spell, and those who spell it correctly will qualify for the Knock Out Stage.
Contestants who fail to spell the word correctly will have a second chance to pick another word, and if they succeed, they will qualify for the Knock Out Stage.
Those who fail again will be disqualified but will remain in the hall to watch the competition until the end.
In the Knock Out Stage, all contestants who pass Round 2 will take turns spelling a word, and those who fail to spell it correctly will be eliminated. The last contestant standing will be declared the winner.
A renowned scholar from the academia and other reputable personalities will lead the panel of judges, and teachers will be available to monitor the event.
Every contestant and teacher will be recognized, and the event will be jointly anchored by SEMA and SUBEB.
The venue and tentative date of the competition will be communicated soon, and individuals, organizations, and institutions that sponsored the event will be announced in due course.
