Education

Literacy: Group Organise Spelling Bees Competitions For Northern Schools

Published

2 years ago

January 25, 2023

Mariam Sanni

In a bid to promote Literacy in the Northern part of the country, a group known as Educand Education Initiative, EEI has organised a NorthCentral and Northeast regional SPELLand THRILL Intervention competition.

The President of EEI, Ayotunde Ikulamberu , explained that the spelling competition which started in 2012 in Ondo is for primary and secondary schools in Nigeria.

According to him, the competition has increased to 25 states and FCT across the South East, South South and North Central/Northeast.

While addressing journalists in an interview at the event, he said that the competition is aimed to refocus and encourage students to showcase their hard work outside the classrooms environments.

He added that the extra curricular activities goes a long way in helping the students.

“ For us is a platform for us to reengineer to refocus and to bring up students both primary school pupils and secondary school students to be able to showcase their level of hard work and diligent outside of the classroom environment .

“Now we understand that the school has their own curriculum, weather we like it or not the extra curricular activities such as this competition will help .

According to him, the SPELL and THRILL which has been in existence for 10 years also had a UNESCO endorsement in 2017.

He explained that the UNESCO endorsement is based on media and literacy information which is suppose to educate populace, the parents, students, teachers.

“SPELL&THRILL! is an annual intervention based spelling competition organized for both private and public, primary and secondary schools in Nigeria. SPELL&THRILL! brings whole families together thereby helping to break intergenerational low educational and literacy skills. This has endeared SPELL&THRILL! as the leading literacy project of the new generation.

“As a corollary, in the year 2017, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) considered SPELL&THRILL! as an indubitable platform for the integration of the Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Curriculum into Nigerian schools’ curriculum.

“UNESCO’s MIL curriculum is designed to combat the propagation of hate speech, fake news and terrorism while fostering proper use of the internet, intercultural dialogue and cohesion among citizens. The curriculum is also geared towards helping teachers become more pragmatic towards their role as educators in this regard.

Meanwhile, two regional winners emerged:
Saviour Onazi of Trophies International School, Minna, Niger State and Nwannadi Precious Chizaram of NUT Endwell Model Science School, Minna, Niger State.

For the 7th edition of the competition, the participatory schools in the Primary Schools category are: NECO Staff School, Niger state, Universal Kingdom Academy, Kogi state, Trophies International School, Niger State,and early Strides Preparatory Schools, Abuja.

Also for the secondary category are: Unique High School, Abuja, Living Spring International College, Abuja, and Universal Kingdom Academy, Kogi.

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Education

NELFUND assures students of smart system to improve loan access

Published

1 month ago

May 7, 2025

The Gleamer

Mariam Abeeb

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has assured students it was working assiduously towards building a technology driven system that would improve easy access to its loans.

This was as the FUND disclosed that no fewer than 320,000 students have thus far been paid with many more currently undergoing verification process to enable their payments.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr gave the assurances in Abuja, while addressing Polytechnics , Monotechnics and Institutes at a Stakeholders Engagement Session/ Technical Workshop on NELFUND System Automation and Loan Application Processes.

Sawyerr noted that the FUND was targeting a platform where students could access loan with confidence and without stress in a manner that was transparent and accountable.

He said: “At NELFUND our mission goes beyond giving loans. It’s about opening doors, it’s about making sure every young Nigerian who is willing to learn and grow has a real shot regardless of their background, location, or chosen path of study.

“For too long, many students, especially in technical institutions, have faced steep financial barriers; some drop out, others have never even applied. This is the gap we at NELFUND are here to close. But we know we can’t do it alone.

“This is a shared mission. It belongs to all of us, government institutions and the private sector alike. This technical workshop marks a major step forward.

“We’re not only providing financing, we’re building a technology-driven system that makes it easier for students to apply, for institutions to verify, and for funds to be disbursed with speed, fairness, and accountability.

“We’re aiming for access without stress, a platform students can use with confidence; transparency and trust so that no one is left wondering where their application stands; partnership with purpose because your feedback, your data, and your cooperation are critical to making this work. We rely on you as our institutional partners to help us bring this vision to life.”

Sawyerr who commended the institutions for providing technical expertise, practical hands-on training that fuels industries and empowers communities over the years, said besides teaching skills, they have built careers, created employers and strengthened economies.

“You know your students, you understand their struggles, your insights will help us tailor this system to reflect the realities on ground, not just assumptions on paper.

“To NBTE, we value your steady leadership in shaping and regulating technical education. Your collaboration is key as we move forward fully.”

The NELFUND boss urged the institutions to partner with the FUND to deliver a system that was not just functional or sustainable, but one that was transformative

“As we move forward fully, integrating NELFUND processes with institutional systems and standards, let us remember at the heart of all of this is a student, a young Nigerian with dreams, with ambition, and the courage to pursue them. Everything we do must serve that student.

“The only way to make it happen is by working together, listening to one another, and staying grounded in real-world challenges. I encourage you all to engage fully today share what’s working and what is not, and together let’s build something that lasts.”

NELFUND ‘s Executive Director, Operations, Mr. Iyal Mustapha, disclosed that apart from the 320,000 students who have so far been paid, more verifications are currently ongoing.

Mustapha, who explained that the failure of not having the number of registered students tally with the number of students whose application process was deemed successful was from the part of students and not NELFUND, said there was an urgent need to bridge the gap.

He also disclosed that the FUND was considering connecting directly to institution’s portal to get the data they need, and how student could apply to their institutions portal without necessarily reaching out to NELFUND.

“One other thing that we’re trying to do going forward is to send some of our IT to all the institutions so that we can see how possible it is we connect directly to your portal instead of saying please send us data. How can we connect using an API which makes it easier to get the data of any student coming to us directly from your portal and not from our portal. So we don’t need to be collecting any data again.

“At the same time, we’re thinking of seeing how is it possible that a student can apply to your portal without coming to us. So it makes it so easy for the student when they’re doing registration, when they’re doing payments, they can select either to apply for NELFUND loans and the process will go through your portal. So you have all the data without ever reaching to NELFUND. All we need is for you to give assurance these are your students and if we have that, we pay you directly. It makes it simpler and faster for all the students.”

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