‘Why corporate bodies need to sponsor education programmes’
The programme director, Young Educators Foundation, Akinleye OluPhilips said in this interview that the national spelling bee contest is being organised by the foundation and 38 students are expected from 12 states at the finals today.
How do you prepare pupils for the spelling bee?
For all those doing spelling bee, we want them to collaborate with us to do it right. We bring trainers into the country for teachers of the pupils that are participating. We train them free for three days on the rudiments of the language. Most of them are English teachers but they are still teaching children in the archaic manner. Our training is to let them realise English language has a formula just like mathematics.
Why do you choose children from ages eight to 13?
That age group is a very critical formative year for every human being. At that level, if they are exposed to certain things, they tend to absorb it faster, better and it tends to stay with them for the rest of their lives.
What impact does the contest have on the pupils that participated?
We make them realise that if they can do well in their academics, the sky is the limit. We propel them to want to do better. Three years ago, a young lady participated and she was nowhere to be found. A year after, she made it to the top 15, last year, she came second. This year, she said she was aiming at becoming the first. Same thing happens to others.
What are the challenges you have experienced so far?
Corporate organisations and individuals are not ready to sponsor the project. We have only one sponsor who believes in us. We have to augment from our personal funds. In the USA, companies such as Google, Microsoft, and others compete for the sponsorship because they believe in its impact on the nation.
How many states will be participating?
Twelve states will participate but our aim is to have more. We are working towards getting the endorsement of the Ministry of Education such that each state government can partner with us and there will be a state champion (representative) at the finals. Asides the states, we also hope to partner with any spelling bee organisers across the country.
The winner goes to the USA to be part of their spelling bee with an addition of N250, 000 scholarship fund, and the second winner goes to the United Kingdom on a tour of the Oxford University Press with an addition of N150, 000 and the third place winner goes home with a N100,000 scholarship fund. The teacher of the winner will have N100,000, that of the second will be rewarded with N75, 000 and the third teacher will have N50, 000 reward.
The school that produced the winner will have a trophy while the second and third schools will have medals. The top 10 students will have books by Pearson Education. Every child that makes it to the finals will take home one thing or the other.
On Monday, the 24th, 38 pupils arrived at the fourday camp in Omole Estate in Lagos. On Tuesday, they had a mentorship session. On Wednesday, they went to the Cinema to watch selected movies and also had a vocabulary test in the evening, which formed part of the overall score for the competition. It tests their understanding of English beyond their spelling ability. Today, being the competition day, each pupil will display their spelling skills.