About

INTRODUCTION

In a bid to discover Nigeria’s best young spellers, develop healthy competitive skills as well as improve youth’s self esteem together with creating pride in academic achievement. TeamMasters Limited designed a Spelling Bee Competition called TeamMasters Spelling Bee which cuts across primary, junior and senior secondary school students in Nigeria.

Teammasters Spelling Bee (formerly called Spelling Bee Nigeria) was first launched in October 24, 2008 and initially designed for children between the ages of 9-12 years, cutting across primary and secondary schools. It was the first National Spelling Bee Competition in Nigeria. Participating schools came from both public and private schools.

In 2012, the competition was further expanded to allow more participation. Categories were further increased (4 categories) and eligibility was made from 6 – 17 years. Participation has come from over 14 states including Ghana and Republic of Benin. The feedbacks and comments from the schools show that the spelling bee competition has had a direct impact on student’s vocabulary and academic performance.

Teammasters Spelling Bee is a unique competition from its size, scope, sequence and system hence; it is regarded as Africa’s Biggest School Competition.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE COMPETITION

The aim of the competition is to provide students with the opportunity to develop healthy competitive skills as well as improving their self-esteem, creating pride in academic achievement, and in the process, help to build a solid foundation for their future education and careers.

The main objectives of the competition are to;

• Improve students’ spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop adequate correct use of English
• Develop students’ self-esteem, confidence and interpersonal skills
• Promote Cultural and Intellectual Literacy by providing students with a platform to display their spelling skills
• Promote community-based partnerships by engaging members of various communities (parents, teachers, businesses, etc.) in the development of the educational process
• Build a network of young people who will act as peer mentors for other students; and play a key role in supporting their academic growth

ELIGIBILITY

Only the students who are 6 – 17 years of age are eligible to participate. This cuts across both primary and secondary schools in Nigeria.

CATEGORIES OF PARTICIPATION

• Lower Category: This category is for pupils in primary 2 and 3. The youngest in this category would not be less than six years of age.
• Upper Primary Category: This category features pupils in Primary 4, 5 and 6.
• Junior Category: This category would involve students in junior secondary schools (i.e. JSS 1-3)
• Senior Category: This category is basically structured for senior secondary school students (i.e. SSS 1-3)

SEQUENCE

The sequence for the National Competition is as follows;

• District Stage: The district stage is the first stage of the competition where registered participants from various schools compete amongst each other towards the state finals
• State Finals: This involves a state competition for participating states. During the State Finals, further elimination would take place to get shortlisted finalist to the National Finals.
• National Finals: At the Nationals, state finalists would compete to become winners. The edition will be rounded up by an Awards where prizes would be given to winners and schools that performed excellently. It would also be a gathering of stakeholders in the sector.

THE 7TH EDITION (2015/2016)

This year, the stage is set to witness another spelling bee challenge amongst top spellers across Nigeria. Participation this year is across 10 states in Nigeria.