By Brenda Kayo:
Malawi National Spelling Bee has revealed that it will incorporate a sign language contest in the 2024-25 season.
Malawi National Spelling Bee said this in Lilongwe last weekend during the grand finale of the 2024 competition, which saw nine students— three from secondary and six from primary schools— emerging winners.
“We want to grow Malawi National Spelling Bee and involve all learners as part of being inclusive and, so, come November in the 2024-25 season, we will have a sign language competition,” Malawi National Spelling Bee Chief Executive Officer Lewis Mbaula said.
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He praised this year’s participants, especially from rural areas, saying they demonstrated significant improvement.
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“There is some improvement, looking at the way learners from rural areas performed. This is what we want and this has also made us believe that we will do well at the Africa Spelling Bee contest in Nigeria,” Mbaula said.
In the secondary school category, Nicole Manguluti from Sir Harry Johnston International School in Zomba came out top whereas Jordan Kowet from Southend International Primary School in Blantyre triumphed in the urban primary school category.
In the rural primary school category, Zacheous Sinyangwe from Zolozolo Primary School in Mzuzu came out top.
The top three winners alongside their runners-up will represent Malawi at the Africa Spelling Bee in Abuja, Nigeria, in December.
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Manguluti said she was excited to come out top in the secondary school category.
She expressed optimism that she would also make it at the Africa Spelling Bee.
“God has been my torchbearer throughout the journey. It was tough but Glory be to God for the victory. Now the focus is on the Africa Spelling Bee,” Manguluti said.
The top three winners walked away with K2 million courtesy of Bata.
Over 18,000 learners from across the country participated in the 2024 National Spelling Bee competition.
