MONDEOR: Beating a staggering 10 000 grade 5 competitors from around Johannesburg in the Nedbank Capital Spell It Championships, a 10 year-old pupil of Mondeor Primary School walked away the winner.
Naleeka Ayrga out-performed learners from the southern suburbs of Johannesburg, Soweto, Lenasia and Eldorado Park and won herself a R1000.00 cash prize as well as a scholarship to Monash University, a trophy for herself and another for her school.
The competition was initiated with by Nedbank and the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) with an aim of creating opportunities for achieving good levels of English literacy among grade 5 learners by the time they graduate to high school, also to build excitement and momentum around learning and academic achievement.
According to Nedbank, “the programme consists of two components, the Vocabulary Assistance Programme (VAP) and Spelling Bee Competitions. VAP is a step-by-step, fun series of card games that assist learners to build on their existing knowledge while brushing up on the fundamentals of phonetics, spelling rules, word structures and the origin of English words.”
Spelling coaches are said to have been provided by Nedbank and the GDE to schools to assist learners and teachers with the programme. Participants reportedly, prior to the finals were given 6000 words to study in preparation for the championships.
Naleeka said that it was her mom Usher Ayrga who deserved the trophy as she was the one responsible for ensuring that she excelled in the competition by helping her prepare.
“I’m excited that I won but I feel I should have known my words better,” said Naleeka.
Her love for reading is what this youngster also says gave her the competitive edge because she reads anything from novels to adverts.
