The Young Educators Foundation has announced that Nigeria and Ghana will represent Africa at the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee in the United States in 2025.
The foundation’s CEO, Eugenia Tachie-Menson, confirmed this in a statement on Thursday.
Ms Tachie-Menson stated that Ghana had represented the continent in the spelling tournament for nearly two decades, which assesses student’s spelling and vocabulary skills.
The organisation collaborated with the Lucid Education Initiative in Nigeria to facilitate Nigeria’s representation.
According to her, the foundation is already developing a selection process for kids who compete at the national level for worldwide representation. The CEO added that they have begun the selection from some private schools and later to public schools.
“The champion of this yet-to-be-unveiled spelling contest will earn a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in May 2025,” she said.
Afolajimi Akinyoyenu, Lucid Education Initiative CEO, said Nigeria’s participation in the competition would highlight the importance of literacy and spelling education among young students.
“This programme offers a platform for Nigerian youths to showcase their literacy prowess on a global stage. It will change the tired and erroneous narrative that the African child only hungers for food,” he said.
The 2024 edition had 245 national competitors from schools across the U.S., Europe, Ghana, and Canada.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a thrilling mental challenge, with spellers having just 75 seconds to ask questions and 90 seconds to spell each word.