Over 400 Schools in Ogun State have written the Adéwálé Inter-School STEM-based competition examination in preparation for the Adéwálé Students’ Conference (ASC) with N1 million awaiting the overall winner in the grand finale which would come up in September 2022.
The examination which took place across the Local Government Area of the State had representatives from 16 Local Government Areas and notable schools include, Remo Secondary School, Lisabi Grammar School, Odogbolu Grammar School, Adeola Odutola College, Odewale Community High School, Iganmode Grammar School, African Church Grammar School, Mayflower School, and Babcock University High School, among others.
Speaking with Journalists, the Initiator and convener of the ASC Programme, Mr Michael Adesanya said ASC competition under the Sustainable Economic Development Goals for African communities in partnership with Tweakcentriic Solutions and Powered by GBFoods Africa (Gino and Bama) and Education USA. Supported by Alumunites, has taken new dimensions from the N100,000 cash reward at the debut edition in 2021, saying that the 2022 winner would go home with a N1 millon cash award come September this year.
Adesanya said this year’s ASC theme,” Today’s Skills for Tomorrow’s wealth” is to help prepare secondary school students with skill acquisition knowledge to create wealth beyond job search as well as let them know how to practice the theoretical knowledge they have gained for profit creation, noting that the result of the successful Schools that makes it to the final round would be officially announced on the official website below www.adewaleconference.org as ASC is concerned about equipping the next generation and making education fun while learning.
“ASC is concerned about equipping the next generation and making education fun while learning. As Malcolm X puts it, “education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” It is paramount for a country like Nigeria to build more initiatives supporting educational development, as this would significantly affect its growth”. Adesanya said.
He said as a one-time JETS (2004) winner, Adesanya envisions a time when “every child should have access to quality basic education, has a good school uniform and sandals, zero stress getting to school, and a conducive and secure learning environment, taught by qualified and motivated teachers, that every child has required books and writing materials, access one good meal in school and gets well rewarded for outstanding performance. He added that the reality of this dream has begun to manifest as ASC caters to empowering and rewarding outstanding performance of secondary school students in Ogun state.
While calling for more support and collaboration from stakeholders in the education sector in particular the State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Adesanya said he is excited to work on this project and bring to life the spirit of healthy competition to foster academic excellence, hopping the promotion of education is rekindled at the grassroots level across Ogun State.
Adesanya said ASC has come to stay as an annual educational event in Ogun State, giving the assurance that it would keep empowering secondary school students to become geniuses that would build lasting solutions to the world’s challenges.
One of the participants, Master Orebiyi Oluwatimileyin Emmanuel from African Church Grammar, said Adéwálé School Challenge questions are not just about the syllables but technically inclined to bring out the best in students, saying that It is well organised and coordinated as well as brain tasking and not just about answers.
He said he is very optimistic that his school would come out in flying colours even as they keep their fingers crossed as all schools anticipate the release of the result.