UBEC Commends Lafarge Africa for Literacy Competition
Primary school pupils participating in the second edition of the Lafarge National Literacy Competition in partnership with the Ovie Brume Foundation showed their readiness for the contest as the competition moved to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Many pupils participated in the contest aimed at inspiring Nigerian children towards academic excellence and promoting quality education in the country. The State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEB) in all the states and regions provided technical and advisory support for the conduct of the competition.
Speaking at the Abuja leg of the event, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) said it is pleased to identify with Lafarge Africa on the programme. The Chief Academic Planning Officer, representing the Executive Secretary, UBEC, Mrs. Bolanle Ishola, commended the organisers for the “laudable initiative.”
According to her, “this literacy competition will energise, motivate the students and help in the development of their intellect and academic pursuit. Based on this, the society will be better enhanced. I ask other companies to emulate Lafarge Africa in their corporate social responsibility commitments.”
At the just concluded North-central zone leg, the Kogi State team Haruna Abudlraheem and Justina Daniel emerged winners for the grand finale with Kwara and Plateau States taking the second and third positions respectively.
Enugu emerged winner in the Southeast regional leg. The team members were Stephen Ngwu and Chinyere Aguocha. The 2015 edition of the literacy competition kicked off with the first regional phase in Port Harcourt (South-south) with the host state’s team of Prince Mfon and Elizabeth Dibiah of State School II Alesa, Eleme emerging winners. The regional competitions for the North-west (holding in Kano), North-east (Gombe) and South-west (Abeokuta, Ogun State) are to follow suit before the grand finale which will hold in Lagos.
The competition is organised annually to promote literacy skills among primary school pupils in the country and engage them in activities that will deepen their ability to read, write and spell correctly.
Speaking on the literacy education initiative, the Group Managing Director, Lafarge Africa, Peter Hoddinott, said the company remains committed to promoting academic excellence among pupils in primary schools across the country and creating opportunities for them to sharpen their literacy skills and build their self-confidence in line with its corporate social responsibility.
The competition organised in partnership with the Ovie Brume Foundation features literacy tests to ascertain the reading and writing levels of all participating schools and essay/summary writing and spelling bees. It is one of the CSR initiatives powered by employees of Lafarge Africa Plc., who under its employee volunteering scheme have regular reading sessions with pupils from their host communities.