Chad Basin Junior Day Secondary School, Maiduguri in Borno State has won the 2024 Spelling Bee and Mathematics Quiz organised by the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with a humanitarian agency, Education Cannot Wait, in Maiduguri.
Forty-three junior day secondary schools featured in the competition, of which the Chad Basin Junior Day Secondary; Lamisula Junior Day Secondary School and Kaleri Junior Day Secondary School emerged winners for the final phase of the competition.
At the grand finale held on Wednesday at the Elkanemi Hall of the University of Maiduguri, the Chad Basin Junior Day Secondary School emerged first in the competition with 12 points and cash price of N350,000; followed by Lamisula Junior Secondary School with nine points and cash price of N180,000; while Kaleri Junior Day Secondary School won the third position with eight points and cash price of N120,000.
The UNICEF chief of field office in Maiduguri, Phuong Nguyen, called on various governments in the northeast to increase their budgetary allocation to the educational sector for a quality and productive education.
She said more than half of all displaced children in North-East Nigeria are out-of-school, saying that 40 percent of schools in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states have teachers with minimum level of teaching qualifications.
“Less than 40 percent of schools in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states have teachers with the minimum level of teaching qualifications. As of today, more than half of all displaced children in North-East Nigeria are out of school.
“Every International Day of Education affords us the opportunity to look at how far we have come, we cannot lose sight of the huge gaps that still exist in reaching the most disadvantaged children in rural communities with quality and inclusive education,” Nguyen said.
She charged education stakeholders, both public and private, to redouble their efforts with innovative solutions even as the context of the operating environment is changing, assuring that UNICEF will continue to work with the government, donors and other partners to raise the bar of education for girls and boys affected by conflict.
