Dipo Olowookere
Organisers of the prestigious national science competition in Nigeria, InterswitchSPAK, have opened the registration portal for the 2020 edition, the third in the series.
InterswitchSPAK is an annual Pan-African competition aimed at re-igniting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects among secondary school students.
A statement issued by the producers of the highly followed and watch programme said students from Senior Secondary Schools across the country can now begin to register for the educational contest on the InterswitchSPAK portal till the closing date, Sunday, April 26, 2020.
For the registration, each school is required to present its best six science students in SSS2. However, for mixed schools, at least two female students must be among the best six.
It was further stated that every registered student will participate in the qualifying examination at any of the centres across Nigeria. The top 81 students will proceed to the finale to battle for the crown of Nigeria’s Best Science Student.
The Chief Marketing and Communication Officer at Interswitch, Ms Cherry Eromosele, expressed her excitement about the last edition and encouraged more girls to participate in the on-going registration.
“We at Interswitch are committed to inculcating knowledge, coupled with improving the standard of education in Nigeria. We are very passionate about encouraging more girls to take up STEM subjects.
“The good thing is, there has been an increase in the number of girls participating in the competition. We commend the relentless effort of the entire team that ensured the previous edition was successful. It is our belief that this year, more girls will register for the qualifying exams and make the top 81 list,” she was quoted as saying in the statement.
There is a N12.5 million university scholarship prize available to the winners. The first prize in the InterswitchSPAK competition is N7.5 million spread over 5 years in the university. The second prize is N4 million which spreads over 3 years and the third prize is N1 million for 1 year.
The recently concluded edition saw Oyindamola Aje, a 16-year-old student of Jesuit Memorial College, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, emerging as winner, while the duo of 15-year-old Oluwatobi Ojo and Onyekachi Madumere (both of Apt Scholars Universal College, Ogun State) came second and third respectively.
