The educational competition, which is an annual, nationwide event, is a way to encourage literacy among youngsters in the country. It is hosted by Miyela, a collective of people committed to seeing change in the world.
Ntsako Mkhabela, director at Miyela, explained the purpose behind running this type of competition for kids across the country.
“This is a programme or challenge designed to help children at primary school level to improve their English skills and improve their vocabulary and literacy standards,” she explained.
“It is a growing movement to get children to fall in love with words; [as organisers of the spelling bee] we are changing the educational landscape one word at a time, one child at a time.”
Mkhabela added that this year, the aim of the competition is to also try to get every province involved in the event, as more assistance is needed to change the way literature is taught in the country.
She said that quite a few schools would represent the Johannesburg North region, showing the growth of the competition within this province. “We have the likes of St David’s Marist Inanda from Sandton taking part as a school, and about 150 kids from Alexandra and Diepsloot taking part,” Mkhabela said.
The competition will officially launch on 17 October in Johannesburg and applications for this year’s Mzansi Spelling Bee season close on 30 September.
Details: To download a form, visit www.mzansispellingbee.org or e-mail info@mzansispellingbee.org
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