The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has celebrated students of Presentation National High School and University Preparatory Secondary School (UPSS), who emerged first and third, respectively, in the 2018 NPDC/SEPLAT Promoting Exception and Respectable Leaders (PEARLS) Quiz competition.
The governor, who hosted the winners at Government House, in Benin City, Edo State, said he invited the schools to express his appreciation to them for making the state proud.
According to him, “Your achievements today go beyond you and your schools to the state. Education is our number one priority; that is why we introduced the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) programme to give every child the opportunity to have quality education.”
“I thought I should motivate you all, both the first and third place winners. Unlike the prize money, what you will get will go to you directly,” he said.
The Commissioner for Education, Hon. Emmanuel Agbale, explained that schools in Edo State have won the competition in three consecutive years, 2016, 2017 and 2018, adding “the 2018 edition held in Delta State in October and had Presentation National High School and University Preparatory Secondary School (UPSS) representing Edo State, and they emerged as the first and third place winners respectively.
“The first prize was N7 million, second prize was N3 million while the third-place winners got N1 million and the prizes were project-based for the winning schools,” Agbale said.
Earlier, Mr. Frank Nwabueze, a school teacher with University Preparatory Secondary School and the school’s SEPLAT Coordinator, said that the victory showed that Edo State is doing well academically.
