Staff Reporter

The inaugural intra-school spelling bee competition will take place today between Yuan Jue Private School and Five Rand Primary School in Okahandja.

Yuan Jue Private School is under the aegis of Amitofo Care Centre (ACC) of Namibia, whose goal is to provide a safe and nurturing environment for vulnerable children in the country.

The school has received children since 2016, and currently supports 223 children from pre-primary to Grade 7 in its hostel facilities.

A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants are asked to spell a broad selection of English words, and compete to see who can spell the most words correctly. This kind of competition is widely held in many other English-speaking countries in the world (most actively in the USA, and several countries in Africa as well).

Namibia used to hold such a competition regularly, but it has been discontinued for many years.

The teachers from Yuan Jue Private School and Five Rand Primary School are working together to rejuvenate this event to motivate their learners to learn words, and to improve their literacy while having fun.

Organisers hope to expand this event to include all primary schools in Okahandja, and turn the event into the ‘Okahandja Spelling Bee’ next year.

Teachers and learners from the five other primary schools in town as well as the education inspector and members from NIED have been invited to witness the competition.

The event starts at 8h00 at the Multi-functional Hall at Amitofo Care Centre.