By Stanley Onyekwere
Government Secondary School, Jibi on Thursday emerged winner of the 2nd FCT Secondary Education Board Scheme-Based Project Competition.
The school came top to win the keenly contested grand prize with 79.8 points, ahead of second placed Government Secondary School, Airport which scooped a total 77.9 points and Government Secondary School Lugbe which settled for the third position with 77 points.
A total of 27 Secondary schools from across the territory made it to the grand finale held at the Abuja Chambers of Commerce and Industry where the students exhibited spectacular display of scientific problem solving skills covering areas like Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Agricultural Science.
In his welcome address, the Director, FCT Secondary Education Board, Mohammed Sani Ladan said the initiative is one of the strategies the Board has adopted towards tackling unemployment among youths by making them skillfully productive right from their classes.
While expressing his delight with the skills and quality of projects exhibited by the students, he noted that the programme lived up to its expectations by engaging the students through critical thinking and proffering solutions that would address various human and societal challenges.
According to Ladan, the Scheme Based Project Exhibition was conceptualised out of the desire to make teaching and learning more participatory, learner centered, and instill core values of critical thinking, collaboration, communication and self- reliance in the students.
“For the students, this programme marks the culmination of months of hard work, dedication and determination.
“I will therefore like to express my heartfelt congratulations to the participating schools, teachers as well as students who have made it to this stage.
“I am amazed by the exceptional level of talent we have witnessed throughout this competition.
“ Education is the cornerstone of any society and through events like this we are able to forster culture of healthy competition, innovation and collaborations among our students.
“The scheme-based competition has encouraged our students to think critically as well as solve complex problems”, he said.
On her part, the Permanent Secretary, Education, FCTA, Joy Okeke expressed gratitude to the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike for upgrading the standard of secondary school education in the territory.
She also noted that the ongoing rehabilitation of schools across the territory is a testimony to the fact that education is at the heart of the Minister’s developmental drive in the FCT.
Many of the students expressed appreciation to the Federal Capital Territory Administration for organizing the Scheme-Based competition which they explained has tremendously impacted on them by changing their learning pattern and enable them have practical knowledge of subjects.
