By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Organisers of the yearly Cowbellpedia Secondary Schools Mathematics TV Quiz Show have said qualifying examination for the competition will take place nationwide on Saturday, February 9, 2019 at designated centres.
The programme is sponsored by Cowbell Milk, the flagship brand from Promasidor Nigeria Limited, the makers of Cowbell Milk.
At a press conference on Tuesday in Lagos, Marketing Manager of Promasidor Nigeria, Mr Abiodun Ayodeji, explained that registration for this year is strictly online and the portal for registration, which opened on Monday, October 1, 2018, would be closed on Sunday, February 3, 2019.
He disclosed that contestants are required to register online at www.cowbellpedia.ng, adding that “The guidelines require the candidates or schools to visit www.cowbellpedia.ng click on link to register your school; fill all required fields in the form and submit. An email will be sent to the school and primary contact email addresses provided when filling the form. The link in the email received would be used to verify the email addresses.
“On successful login, you click on the ‘Add Candidates’ under Candidate Management; fill in the candidates’ information on the form, upload the candidate’s picture and click the Save Draft button; save draft information for 5 candidates before you submit their registration.
“If your school is a mixed school, at least two of the candidates must be female. After creating the draft registration for five candidates in a category (junior/senior), a button will be shown on the page to ‘Register junior/senior candidates’; click the button to complete the registration of the candidates for that category. A confirmation slip will be generated for download and will also be mailed to the school, candidate and parent/guardian email address. Print the confirmation slips and have it stamped and signed by the school principal as the confirmation slip will be required for admitting candidates at the examination venue.”
Each school, according to the Marketing Manager, is required to present its best 10 students in Mathematics (five from JSS3 and five from SSS2), irrespective of sex, religion, tribe or state of origin, to enhance its chance of qualifying for the next stage of the competition.
Also speaking, Managing Director of Promasidor, Mr Anders Einarsson, said he applications for the competition are open to students in JSS3 and SSS2 from ages 10 to 18 attending full time secondary education in both public and private schools in Nigeria.
He said the competition is divided into two phases: Stage 1 Qualifying Written Examination and Stage 2 TV Quiz Show.
As part of the brand’s deliberate effort in encouraging Girl Child interest in STEM courses, Mr Einarsson reiterated the company’s appeal to mixed secondary schools to nominate a minimum of two female students for each category. As research has shown that a positive relationship exists between girl child education and the GDP of a nation. The Promasidor boss also disclosed that the ultimate prize for this year’s edition is N2 million and an all-expense paid educational excursion outside the country. The first and second runners-up will go home with N1.5 million and N1 million respectively. He said further that teacher of the top prize winner will be awarded N500,000, while those of the first and second runners-up will get N400,000 and N300,000 respectively.