Pupils of M.A. Bediako Adventist Preparatory School at Amakom showcased impressive spelling, reading and critical thinking skills at the maiden edition of the Junior Journal Spelling Bee Competition.

The competition is aimed at promoting literacy and academic excellence among basic school learners.

It formed part of the school's academic programme and was organized in partnership with Junior Journal, a magazine publisher for pupils in basic schools.

The event brought together contestants from various sections of the school in a thrilling display of vocabulary mastery and confidence.

Addressing participants and guests, Headmistress of the school, Mavis Ansah, called on the government and the Ministry of Education to pay greater attention to foundational education as a means of tackling examination malpractice in the country.

“When it comes to examination malpractice, it has become a menace and solving it is not easy. What I’d like to say is, they should rather supervise the foundational work of the kids, it’s because they’re lacking a lot of skills that’s why they’re involving themselves in malpractice. I want to encourage the examination bodies and also the educational ministry to strengthen the foundational class. If the foundation is very strong, they can build upon it and with time this menace will be corrected,” she asserted.

Mrs. Ansah noted that inadequate supervision and weak foundational learning contributed significantly to examination malpractice.

She stressed that strengthening basic education would help address the challenge in the long term.

She also described the Junior Journal Spelling Bee Competition as a huge success for both the school and its learners.

Speaking on technology and education, she emphasized the need for children to be guided in the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), highlighting its educational benefits while cautioning against inappropriate use.

“With this technological world, we need to introduce the kids to AI by under supervision. We can use AI to do a lot of things so we should just limit ourselves to educational purposes and things that will help the kids rather than giving them the general knowledge. We should strengthen the use of AI but there should be a limit. The educational aspect that will benefit the kids like skills training. I will suggest we should rather concentrate that aspect and leave the rest like pornography and other things that will spoil our kids,” she explained.

According to her, the school is already integrating AI-powered learning and robotics into its educational activities to equip pupils with future-ready skills.

Chief Executive Officer of Junior Journal, Wisdom Dominic, said the organization, established in 2025, is committed to improving literacy, reading culture and academic development among pupils at the basic level.

He appealed to the government and stakeholders for support to sustain and expand the programme.

“We call on stakeholders, sponsors and the government to come on board because if you look at the excitement of the kids even the parents and teachers, it is something worth doing. To do something like this would increase their confidence a lot more and challenge them to perfect their skill in terms of reading and writing so we call on businesses, companies, stakeholders, government to come to come to our aid so this becomes mega and take it to the national level,” he said.

Wisdom disclosed plans to expand the competition to more schools across the country and eventually organize inter-school contests to further encourage reading and writing among students.

“I do believe that government can include this structure because it challenges the students to take their reading habits well,” he added.

The competition ended excitingly with Team Tuffour emerging champions.

Team members Nhyira Serwaa Afia Wiredu, Kwabena Boateng and Hazel recounted the challenges they faced in preparing for the contest, particularly with difficult words, but expressed excitement over their victory.

“Some of the words, I wasn’t able to mention but with the help of my teacher Madam Charity, I was able to. I was expecting that our section takes the first position but we were discouraged by our classmates that our section will be last because every time we went for competition, we took the last position. We are happy for our win,” they said.