Guyana and Suriname will face off in the first Inter-Guianas Spelling Bee competition today from 10.00 am in the auditorium of NCERD, Battery Road, Kingston.
This event is made possible through collaboration among the Ministry of Public Telecommunications (which up to 30 June 2016 holds responsibility for Tourism), the Ministry of Education and the ‘Learning for a Better Future Foundation’ of Suriname. A release from the Ministry said that both countries will field three candidates in each of three age categories – 10-11; 12-13 and 14-15.
The Ministry of Education selected the Guyana team on the basis of a recent national Spelling Bee elimination contest. The students representing Guyana are drawn from schools in Regions 1, 4, 6, 7 and 8 and were selected on the basis of their performance in that national Spelling Bee contest. The Surinamese team comprises their national Spelling Bee champions.
Twenty persons (students, teachers and parents) from the neighbouring Republic of Suriname are expected to be in Guyana for the event.
The release added that although Dutch is the official language of Suriname, the Spelling Bee words will all be in English, and will relate to concepts, themes, names and places that should be familiar to students living in both countries.
