Over 11,000 Students across Nigeria sit for the InterswitchSPAK National STEM Exams
The journey to identifying the winner of N7.5M 5 year university scholarship began yesterday as 11,412 smart and determined students across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory sat for the qualifying exams to show their SPAK (Speed, Precision, Accuracy & Knowledge) to secure a place at the InterswitchSPAK National STEM competition.
Registration which opened in February and ran through April 2018 recording a total of 11,412 applications from all over the country cutting across single-sex and co-educational senior secondary schools.
According to figures released by the organizers, 47% ( 5,382) of registered students came from the South West region. The South South region had 1,764 registered students, North Central region had 1,548 registered students, South East coming close to that with 1,362 registered students while the North West and North East recorded less than 1,000 registered students. Lagos state topped the list with 2,280 registered students while states like Jigawa and Borno had 12 and 24 students respectively. It is also interesting to note that registration was equally split between male and female, indicating the strong passion that both sexes have for STEM subjects.
Students who took the exams yesterday were tested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) related subjects and the best 81 students across the country will be selected to partake in the TV quiz competition where 3 students will eventually emerge as winners from the competition. This is according to information released during the launch of the program in February.
These students will be offered scholarships covering their university education, monthly stipend, alongside laptops and achievement trophies. Recognition will also be extended to the teachers and schools being represented by the winning students as necessary equipment will be donated by Interswitch to further improve the quality of STEM education in the schools.
The competition is a mix of education, technology and entertainment, structured to promote excellence and innovation and most importantly, secure the future of Nigerian students by encouraging them to focus on STEM education while rewarding them in the process. 7.5 million Naira worth of university scholarship will go to the winner of the competition which is more than the amount obtainable in similar competitions.
InterswitchSPAK is an initiative of Interswitch, the digital payment and commerce company, under its “Switcha-Future” foundation.. It aims to promote the practical and theoretical learning of STEM subjects in Nigeria and also reward outstanding students that emerge from the competition.
