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We should look at people, relook at them and understand to see their potential and give them the space to manoeuvre
We should look at people, relook at them and understand to see their potential and give them the space to manoeuvre

Spelling Bee 2016 launched

The 10th edition of the Spelling Bee contest has been launched in Accra.

The theme for the contest is ''Equipping the Ghanaian student for the world stage'.

Launching the competition, Mrs Eugenia Tachie-Menson said, 'Spelling Bee was born purely out of the desire to encourage children to cultivate the reading habit and build their vocabularies''.

She said it is the local version of the internationally acclaimed Scripps National Spelling Bee of the USA, with Ghana being the first African country which participated in the contest and made international headlines for its participation. 

According to Mrs Tachie-Menson, Spelling Bee is a literacy programme organised for children between the ages of eight and 13 years to help them use the English language effectively. The first edition of the competition was held in 2008 with only 30 participants from six schools. 

She noted that the journey has not been a smooth one since it begun in Ghana and cited some of the challenges to include apathy on the part of parents, teachers and stakeholders in education.

However, she said, “10 years down the line, Spelling Bee has grown from strength to strength with this year being the climax as Miss Afua Ansah, the current reigning champion of the National Spelling Bee Contest participated in the Scripps National Spelling Bee USA and made it to the final.”

The Spelling Bee contest, she explained has helped Afua to improve on her vocabulary and made her confident. 

She, therefore, encouraged those who have been selected for next year's competition to put in their best.

Rev. Dr Joyce Aryee, who was also present at the launch, spoke about the fact that reading gave children the opportunity to acquire knowledge which would help them act differently.

She added, “Reading gives us different perspectives of things we already know to know more. We will be a better people if we read a lot.’’

Dr Patrick Awuah Jnr., Founder and President of Ashesi University, acknowledged that Spelling Bee was just the right start to being great achievers as it prepared the minds of contestants. 

He said, “We should look at people, relook at them and understand to see their potential and give them the space to manoeuvre and when we do that incredible things happen.’’

He added that Afua being the champion was not a phenomenon of knowledge but a phenomenon of hard work. 

The programme was attended by General Manager, Multi-Pro Private Limited-Indomie, Mr Manpreet Singh, the American Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Robert Jackson, and other dignitaries.

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