ST. Michael Academy, Edo State on Thursday, emerged the overall winner of the 9th edition of the SEPLAT PEARLS Quiz competition.
St Michaels defeated Mc Nell Secondary school, Delta State to emerge the winner, while Glory Land Secondary School, Edo State, came third in the finals of the competition held at Imaguero College in Benin.
Earlier, Mr Roger Brown, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, said, the PEARLs Quiz, was an annual competition open to all secondary schools in both states is to improve the academic standards in the company’s host states.
Brown represented by, Mrs Chioma Nwachukwu, General Manager, External Affairs and Communication, said the programme which had ran for eight years also aims to rekindle the spirit of academic excellence and healthy competition in the youth.
He said this is by motivating, encouraging and rewarding the ethos of scholarship while also inculcating the benefits of teamwork.
He noted that Pearls Quiz has helped Delta and Edo States maintain very high pass rates in external examinations such as WAEC.
He also disclosed that SEPLAT was a leading indigenous Nigerian oil and gas exploration and production company with a strategic focus on Nigeria, listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
“The company is pursuing a Nigeria focused growth strategy and is well-positioned to participate in future divestment programmes by the international oil companies, farm-in opportunities and future licensing rounds.
“SEPLAT Pearls Quiz is implemented in two stages, the test stage where all public and private secondary schools take a qualifying test, and the competition stage where the qualified schools go head-to-head and losers are eliminated until a Champion emerges for the year.
“All qualified schools from the test stage go home with Seplat branded laptop bags, exercise books and tee shirts.
“Seplat also provides transportation subsidy to all participating schools”.
The CEO added that this year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, an innovation was introduced, and all the schools wrote the qualification test online with Seplat providing data for all.
He disclosed that 574 schools took the test and 104 (52 from both states) progressed to the next round.
He explained that the top three prizes were first prize N7million project-based cash and N100,000 scholarship grant to the 3 winning students.
“The second prize is N3million project-based cash and N75,000 scholarship grant to the 3 winning students, and the third prize is N1million project-based cash and N50,000 scholarship grant to the 3 winning students.
He further said that SEPLAT Pearls Quiz addresses Sustainability Development Goal 4 for quality education by ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for both public and private schools in Edo and Delta States.
“For instance, 45,140 students have been impacted, more than 35 of them are in various universities across the country and some graduated.
“Two have benefited from the undergraduate scholarship scheme, one has undergone industrial training with SEPLAT. These students provide a pool for future employment.
