After 14 years of presenting only one Ghanaian Speller to represent the country in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the USA, The Spelling Bee-Gh will now be sending 3 Spellers to the US finals of the famed global spelling competition.
According to the organisers, Young Educators Foundation, “We have been requesting to have our number of Speller representatives increased and we were told there were capacity restrictions.”
“We kept hope and faith alive and here we have it eventually; in our 15th year we have secured an offer to send 2 more Spellers in addition to the Champion Speller, to represent Ghana, the only African country participating. This makes our 15th year historic.”
The Spelling Bee -Gh is a literacy programme targeted at primary school children in Ghana; it teaches them how to use the English language effectively.
Over the fourteen years, the Scripps Spelling Bee-franchised program has run in Ghana. The Spelling Bee has impacted over 30,000 students throughout the then 10 regional capitals of the country.
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The Spelling Bee-Gh operates an inclusive policy where students with special needs are supported to participate in the programme. In line with that, the Tetteh Ocloo State School for the Deaf in Adjei Kojo, has been receiving support from The Spelling Bee to participate in the programme, incorporating sign language in the oral competition.
“All children, regardless of their needs and circumstances, are entitled to education in Ghana; and as The Spelling Bee is an educational programme, we, on our own volition, are doing all we can to ensure that children with special needs are not left out of it”, Eugenia Tachie-Menson, Country Director of Young Educators Foundation emphasised.
At the recently held 15th anniversary launch, it was announced that three 3 Spellers, instead of just one, will be going to the US from this year onwards.
It was explained that the other 2 will not necessarily be the 1st and 2nd runners-up of the competition as some programme eligibility requirements had to be met.
There are 114 national finalists, from 12 cities in Ghana, vying for the top positions in the national finals of The Spelling Bee 2022, which comes off on Saturday February 5, 2022.
The guest of honour is the First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo.
The finals will be aired live from 2 pm on Citi TV on DStv channel 363.
