Ogheneruona Tejiri, Oviorie, Delta State
Ovu Foundation for Development and Empowerment (OFDE) has held it’s 7th Biennial Book Reading Competition for primary school pupils in Oviorie-Ovu, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.
In his address, Prof. Alphonsus Isara, Chairman , Scholarship Committee of the Foundation said that the initiative was the Foundation’s way of promoting and encouraging children to imbibe the culture of reading.
Prof. Isara said that the objective of the Foundation was to bridge the gap in reading and learning among the children and encourage them to develop interest in education.
According to Prof. Isara, “Ovu Foundation is designed to promote education, particularly among the young ones through reading competition, essay and quiz in all the primary schools in Ovu Community.
“We decided to start with the primary schools to catch them young, as the primary school remains the foundation of education.
“Once you can get the young ones to cultivate the habit of reading their books, that will lay solid foundation for their education.
“We will continue to sustain this initiative by way of motivating the young ones to study hard to achieve higher standard and add value to their lives.”
Mr.Rex Ohre, Coordinator of the Competition said that nine schools were invited for the exercise, adding seven schools honoured the invitation.
Mr. Ohre who announced the results said that the participants were eager to win awards.
Announcing the results, Mr. Ohre announced that Oviorie Model Primary School scored a total of 101 points to emerge the overall winner of the competition.
He said that Ezebue Primary School scored 97 points to emerge second best while T.E.A. Primary School came 3rd with 84 points.
He added, “Okwadi Primary School clinched 4th position with 71 points, Unuame Primary School emerged 5th position with 66 points.
“Similarly, Ovu Junction Primary School scored 50 points to clinch 6th position while Urhodo Primary School scored 45 points to grab the 7th position.”
In his remarks, Mr. Joseph Eghwujovwo, Chief Inspector of Education, Ethiope East Local Government Area said the competition would encourage the children to be more committed to the pursuit of their academic work.
Mr. Eghwujovwo who was represented by Mr. Wilfred Emeseh commended the organisers of the competition for the good work in encouraging academic pursuit in the area.
He, however, requested for the inclusion of Urhobo Language as a subject in subsequent edition of the programme to keep the language alive.
