The integrated payment and digital commerce company, Interswitch Group, has reaffirmed its commitment to continue promoting and supporting the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related subjects among secondary school students in Africa.
To this end, the company has announced not only the commencement of its National Science Competition for this year but also raised the prize money pool to be won this year from N14 million to N30 million.
Cherry Eromosele, the Executive Vice President of Group Marketing and Corporate Communications of the company, made the announcement in a statement available to newsmen in Lagos.
She emphasized that the sole objective of the contest is to reward academic excellence, encourage healthy competition, and cultivate more professionals among young students in STEM-related fields in Africa.
According to her, the free and voluntary competition known as InterswitchSpark is part of Interswitch’s corporate social responsibilities in education to the country.
She explained that the annual competition, now in its sixth edition in Nigeria and fifth in Kenya, progresses through various stages, including qualifying online assessment rounds, national examinations, semi-finals, and grand finale stages.
She said the grand prize winner would now receive N15 million (instead of N7.5 million from last year), in scholarships for a five-year period, a laptop, and monthly stipends. The first and second runners-up would receive N10 million (instead of N4 million) in scholarships for three years, a laptop, and monthly stipends, and N5 million (instead of N1 million) in scholarships for one year, monthly stipends, and a laptop, respectively.
She added that participants who rank fourth to ninth and all 18 semi-finalists, as well as 27 outstanding teachers, would also be rewarded with cash gifts for their efforts this year. Similarly, Interswitch will also purchase JAMB e-PINS for the top 200 preliminary qualifiers to enable them to participate in next year’s UTME.
Eromosele said the idea of giving various gifts is to expand rewards for hard work and encourage more participation, especially among students from less privileged homes. She declared that Interswitch is more encouraged to invest more in the competition because of the significant impacts the previous editions have made on STEM education in both Nigeria and Kenya.
She urged all eligible students and their schools to visit the company’s dedicated website at www.interswitchspak.com for further information and registration
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