Bianca Iboma
In its quest to build,reward and developed the capabilities of secondary school students in STEM vocations, Interswitch SPAK has kick started registration for the second edition of the STEM competition across the country.
The competition which has N12.5million in scholarship and star prize of N7.5million with monthly stipends for the best STEM students is designed to help the youths succeed in the new information and technology driven global society.
Group Head, Interswitch SPAK Brand, Enyioma Ananba said for any youth to succeed in today’s economy; they need to acquire the right skill, their minds need to be re-engineered and reconciled with STEM education in order to compete in or create a job market.
“Due to challenges of poverty, poor education funding, waning interest in STEM subjects by students, poorly trained teachers, inadequate learning aids, as well as incessant strikes, Nigeria is not prepared for this reality as students in schools are ill-equipped to take advantage of the coming opportunity.
‘’Resolved to pilot the nation in the right direction, integrated digital payment and commerce company, Interswitch, has launched the Interswitch SPAK initiative to promote STEM education in the country by providing the right support and reward for students and other stakeholders.’’
She disclosed that students from senior secondary schools across the country can register on the website, in order to participate in the national science competition billed to commence in May 2019.
“While STEM education may have been plagued by various challenges in the past, Interswitch SPAK is one great step towards ameliorating the situation and it deserves the support and commendation of every stakeholder. One also hopes that other successful Nigerian tech companies will be inspired by this to create similar opportunities for the nation’s education system.”
Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Alhaji Abubakar Gana, who was represented by the Deputy Director of Education, Mr. Ibrahim Saad lauded the firm for embarking on such initiative that is designed to aid students in STEM vocations.
Gana described STEM education as the key to solve the basic problem the nation is faced with at the moment and encouraged students, in private and public schools nationwide to take advantage of the opportunity to develop their personal skills.
Speaking on the details of the competition, Marketing Manager of Interswitch SPAK, Olawale Akanbi, said: “To kick-start the initiative, a national science competition is set to begin in May 2019, which will feature students from all states of the federation competing in core STEM subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.
“Registration started from March 7 to May. It is for students in SS2 in secondary schools across the 36 states of the country. Schools are to register their top six students. If a mixed school, two of the six students must be females. Hence, top 81 students will compete to emerge the best three.”
On the prizes, Akanbi noted: “N7.5m will be given the winners to study in schools in Nigeria. Top two students in the competition will be awarded a five-year scholarship, a Mac laptop and gold trophy, the second place will get a three-year scholarship, a laptop and a silver trophy, while the third position will receive a two-year scholarship, a laptop, and a bronze trophy.
“Once a student gets the scholarship, we will follow up because we want to ensure consistency and commitment towards achieving excellence. There is a minimum grade scholars need to continue to be eligible for the scholarship. We are doing this because we see this as a life-long commitment” he explained.