By OBAKENG MAJE
The North West Department of Education will be hosting the Provincial Spelling Bee Competition for primary school learners from the four districts who are between Grades 4 and 6 at Mafikeng Primary School School Hall, in Mafikeng on 21 September 2023.
The North West MEC for Education spokesperson, Viola Motsumi said as part of the Read to Lead Campaign, the Spelling Bee Competition assists in promoting the love of reading through the promotion of reading clubs in schools, annually.
“A Spelling Bee is a game or Competition in which the participants compete in Spelling words orally. The National Spelling Bee Championship is targeting learners in Grades 4 to 6 to improve their reading ability.
“This initiative will improve the ability of learners at the primary level. On behalf of the department, l really want to applaud our national department for facilitating this initiative. Early this year the 2023 Background report for the 2030 Reading Panel indicated that most Grade one learners leave without knowing all alphabets,” she said.
Motsumi further said this initiative will assist in fighting illiteracy at the primary school level. She added that the province has introduced a number of measures like reading corner, individual reading, group reading, etc, to fight this challenge amongst primary school learners.
The Guardian 