Ketley Primary is Literacy Bee champs, wins $100k

The Ketley Primary School in Georgetown retained the title of Literacy Bee Champions on Saturday at the National Cultural Centre following their win back in 2020 at the first edition of the competition.

The school was represented by Angelina Deonarine and Antwon Henry who scored a total of 86 points in the final leg of the competition against Patentia Primary from Region Three.

This school was represented by Aiden George and Makayla Harding who scored 53 points.

The third competing school, Auchlyne Primary School from Region Six, was represented by Prunella Luke and Hannah Mahadeo who scored 43 points.

The winning school, Ketley Primary, received $100,000 that will be used to fund any project at the school. The winners from Ketley Primary also received two electronic tablets from the Ministry’s National Literacy Unit.

Each learner who participated received a certificate while the 1st to 3rd place winners received a school and individual trophy.

The Literacy Bee competition began last Saturday at the Queen’s College auditorium where six schools competed for a place in the semi-finals and final rounds.

Ketley Primary scored the highest points during the preliminary stage and was automatically placed in the finals.

Meanwhile, Auchlyne Primary, Patentia Primary and Christianburg Primary from Region Ten qualified to compete in the semi-final round.

St. Cuthbert’s Primary from Region Four and 72 Miles Primary from Region Seven were both eliminated during the preliminary stage.

Assistant Chief Education Officer with responsibility for Literacy, Samantha Williams said that the competition is designed to test learners’ literacy skills at the Grade Five level.

She noted that learners were encouraged to showcase their mastery of various aspects of the literacy curriculum such as spelling, reading, vocabulary, comprehension and general knowledge. These areas formed the categories under which the participants were quizzed during the competition.

The competition received corporate sponsorship from I-Secure Security Services Inc. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Quincy Anderson, congratulated all the participating schools. He commended the students for participating and their teachers for taking the time to prepare their pupils to compete.

He said that the competition will be an annual feature and looks forward to more schools participating from across the country. (Ministry of Education press release)