WHILE many pupils across the world are enjoying their holidays now, it is not so for these 16 pupils.
Hailing from different African countries they are ready to battle it out for a bursary in a spelling bee this Saturday.
Hominin House, at Maropeng, a world heritage site in the Magaliesberg region of Gauteng, is the venue for the 16 finalists.
On top of the bursary up for grabs there are cash prizes to be won as well.
Monash South Africa and the African Spelling Bee have partnered to bring this competition to Mzansi.
This is the second of the annual competitions which will see pupils compete to win a full undergraduate scholarship to attend at the prestigious Monash South Africa campus in Roodepoort, Gauteng.
President of Monash South Africa, Professor Alwyn Louw, said this is their 14th youth spelling competition scholarship but the second bursary for pupils to attend Monash South Africa as a result of their collaboration with the African Spelling Bee.
“We are pleased to continue this support for promising young pupils.”
In preparation for the event, finalists are required to read, among other texts, the founding document of the African Union and Thabo Mbeki’s I am an African speech.
In addition to the competition, pupils will also be taken on a tour of the Maropeng site and the Sterkfontein caves by Maropeng curator, Lindsay Marshall.
Words from these fossil-fuelled tours and words from the prescribed reading will also be used in the competition.