The Bells Comprehensive College, Ota, Ogun State, has emerged winner of the Winifred Awosika Foundation Schools’ Challenge.
The competition was keenly contested by 11 schools from Lagos and Ogun States at Chrisland Pre-Degree College, Lekki.
The Bells Comprehensive College, Ota in Ogun State emerged the winner with 30 points, defeating seven other schools that made it to the final.
Crescent International School, also in Ota, Ogun State, clinched the second place with 28 points, while Grace High School, Gbagada, Lagos, emerged third with 27 points.
The eleven schools that participated in the challenge were Grace High School, Gbagada, The Crescent International School, Ota, Landmark College, Ikorodu, White Sand Schools, Lekki, Fountain Heights, Surulere, Lagoon Schools, Lagos, The Bells Comprehensive College, Ota, Wellsprings College, Dansol High School, Ogba, Vivian Fowler Memorial School for Girls and Loral International School.
In his opening remarks, the representative of the foundation who is also the Executive Head of Schools, Academics, Chrisland Schools Limited, Mr Segun Ogunsola, explained that the Foundation’s annual secondary schools challenge organised yearly across the country was part of its contribution to the society, to develop education and competitiveness among learners.
He reiterated that the annual schools’ challenge aims to promote healthy competition and excellence among secondary school students in Nigeria.
Ogunsola said, “We bring them together in various competitions, which include Winifred Awosika Chess Tournament, Scrabble Tournament and now this is academics which is a quiz competition covering secondary school subjects including Mathematics, Further Maths, Science and General paper which comprises of English Language, Geography, and Economics, among others.”
According to him, the foundation seeks to bring together students from all over the world to have healthy competition, to be challenged, and to understand the importance of excellence in everything they do.
The guest speaker at the event, Acting. Controller Post Examination Department, WAEC, Mr Bisi Sofela, who spoke on the theme, ‘Promoting academic excellence,’ advised the students to be hardworking to achieve academic excellence.
“Before you can perform excellently well, there must be what we refer to as hard work and it is a habitual thing, you must do regularly in order not to be involved in examination malpractice. There is no shortcut to success in life,” he said.
Chrisland School was founded in 1977 by Mrs Winifred Awosika who is now 84 years old.