Florence Avornyo-Badzi, a pupil of the Latebiokorshie Presbyterian Junior High School, has won the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) pilot Spelling Bee Competition to educate the youth on the importance of the Constitution.

The competition, sponsored by Indomie Instant Noddles, was keenly contested by 23 pupils drawn from three basic schools in the Greater Accra Region.

It was aimed at sharpening the intellect of the pupils on governance, civic responsibility and the Constitution.

Ms Avornyo-Badzi received story books authored by Ghanaian writers to increase her vocabulary, study and understand word concepts and develop English usage in her daily endeavours.

Master Bernard Lewis Aihoon, a pupil of Richard Akwei Memorial Basic School, placed second whilst Master Adjei Mensah, a pupil of Dansoman Community Basic School, placed third and also received story books.

Ms Josephine Nkrumah, the Chairperson of NCCE, said the competition was an improvement on the annual Citizenship Week education which was usually designed to educate Ghanaians on their rights and duties as citizens.

She said the competition formed part of the NCCE’s nationwide Constitution Week Celebration on the theme: “Restoring the Ghanaian Identity: Our Values; Our Passion.”

Dr Peter Atafah, the Regional Director of Education, who chaired the programme, charged parents to instil moral values in their wards so they could grow to be good citizens.

Madam Eugenia Takyi Menson, the Country Director of Young Educators Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation and organisers of the Spelling Bee Competition, said the competition was in its 10th year and aims to train students to understand the use of words and not only to memorize it.

The various participating schools also received some books.

Since 2001 the NCCE had commemorated the Constitution Week to educate the masses on the importance of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and it envisages to reach out to10,000 schools this year.