By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The organisers of the prestigious InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition have shortlisted 81 students for the next stage of the educational contest.
The students were chosen from the over 12,000 students who vied for a spot in the finals of the fourth edition of the programme through a nationwide computer-based test (CBT) held between June 2 and 8, 2022, in two stages.
Business Post gathered that the first stage of the CBT was held on June 2 and 5, with the participants pruned to 500 from 12,000 and on June 8, another test was conducted to further trim the number to 81.
The students were tested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and the eventual winner of the competition will smile home with N7.5 million in scholarships for five years, a laptop, and monthly stipends.
The first runner-up will receive N4 million in scholarships, a laptop, and monthly stipends for a period of 3 years, while the second runner-up will go home with N1 million in scholarships for a year, a laptop and monthly stipends.
It was learned that the top 81 students who scaled the screening process were from 13 schools, including Adedokun International School, Ota; The Ambassador College, Ota; Marist Brothers’ Juniorate, Uturu, Abia; Faith Academy Canaan Land, Ota; Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja; and Mount Olive College, Anambra.
Others are Greater Tomorrow International College, Arigidi, Ondo State; Bofoat Model College, Ondo State; FUTA Staff Secondary School Akure, Ondo; Seolad International College, Ogun; Great Cornerstone International Science College, Ondo State; Apt Scholars Universal College, Ogun State; and Oritamefa Baptist Model School, Ibadan.
Speaking on the importance of InterswitchSPAK and the need to encourage and reward more students in Africa to take up STEM subjects, the Group Chief Marketing and Corporate Communications Officer of Interswitch, Ms Cherry Eromosele, noted that Africans should play a more central role in mapping out the future of Africa.
Ms Eromosele added that the continent was ripe for development at the same scale as observed in the developed world, adding that this development had been proven to be spurred by the knowledge and application of STEM.
“InterswitchSPAK remains an integral expression of the belief we hold at Interswitch, which is that Africa’s story can be changed from the inside out. And what this means is that only through the active participation of Africans can the change we seek to come about.
“For this reason, we leverage the InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition, now in its fourth run, to encourage young Africans to find value in STEM subjects that have been identified as drivers of economic prosperity, something that we at Interswitch have seen firsthand,” she said.
InterswitchSPAK is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of Interswitch and since its inception, it has continued to champion the study of STEM subjects among students in Africa as the competition has moved beyond a locally-organized initiative and has expanded to other parts of Africa such as Kenya in East Africa.
In 2021, the contest was won by Jubril Dokun of Brainfield College, Alagbado, Lagos State. Ayanlade Jesuferanmi of Obafemi Awolowo University International School, Ile-Ife, Osun State was the second-place winner, while Omoniyi Qudus of Scholars Universal Secondary School, Ota, Ogun State, was the third-place winner.