A beauty queen, Princess Omowunmi Ogunbiade, has advised youths to focus more on their academics as schools resume after the long vacation.
Agunbiade said that this would earn them success in the new academic session.
Agunbiade, the current Miss Grand Nigeria, spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) ahead of her proposed spelling bee competition for children in public schools.
She said that the programme would take place on Wednesday, Sept. 26, at New Era Girls Senior Secondary school in Surulere, Lagos State.
NAN reports that Miss Grand Nigeria was a national franchise holder for Miss Grand International (one of the top 10 beauty pageants in the world).
She said that the event was her pet project and was meant to challenge children in public schools to improve on their skills in spellings, effectively.
She said that the competition, tagged, “Princess Agunbiade Spelling Bee” would be a spelling competition aimed at bringing out the best in the students through spelling.
” We will be rewarding academic excellence and also encourae the students to take their studies seriously.
” Students no longer have good spelling skills because the computer and the internet have taken over the learning environment thereby weakening their spelling skills, ” she said.
The 22-year-old queen noted that spelling was a major requirement for good reading skill which she said was fast declining among school children.
“Most school children have resorted to examination malpractice because of the falling standard in reading and spelling.
She said that students used to pay less concentration to their studies during class sessions alleging that they might be assisted during their examinations.
“But if we bring up interesting activities that can challenge the spelling and reading skills of school children, they will be better in other areas of their academics, ” she told NAN.
She advised school teachers and parents to encourage the reading culture in the children by encouraging them to read novels and other literature texts.
Ogunbiade said that the programme would involve 10 schools from Lagos State Education District IV for the 2018 edition and would be supported by the Lagos State Ministry of Education.
She also said that some of the gifts to be won at the competition would include: laptops, tablets, laptop bags, and lots of school accessories. (NAN)