By Thapelo Molefe
South African learners have recorded the country’s strongest performance at an international spelling competition after two pupils finished among the world’s top 10 and Team South Africa secured fourth place at the inaugural World Spelling Bee Championships in Shanghai, China.
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube on Monday hosted a virtual welcoming ceremony for the six-member team and their parents, congratulating them on their historic achievement and saying it showcased the quality of South Africa’s education system.
The team placed fourth among more than 20 participating nations. All six South African learners advanced beyond the competition’s artificial intelligence-enabled preliminary assessment, marking one of the country’s strongest performances on the international academic stage.
Gwarube said the achievement showed that South African learners could compete with the best in the world when given the necessary support.
“The team’s success is a powerful reminder that South African learners are capable of competing with and outperforming the best in the world when provided with the right opportunities, dedicated educators and strong foundations,” she said.
She also praised the parents for supporting their children and thanked educators, departmental officials and partners who had helped create opportunities for learners to progress from school and provincial competitions to continental and global stages.
Gwarube said South Africa’s fourth-place finish was further proof that the country’s education system was producing learners capable of excelling in highly competitive international environments.
“The achievement reflects the growing impact of sustained investments in literacy, reading and foundational learning, while reinforcing the Department’s commitment to raising standards of academic excellence across the country,” she said.
The Department of Basic Education said South Africa’s recent success at both the African Spelling Bee Championships and the inaugural World Spelling Bee Championships demonstrated that the country’s learners were increasingly being recognised as world-class competitors.
The department said it would continue working with its partners to strengthen and expand the National Spelling Bee Programme across all nine provinces to ensure more learners had access to opportunities that promote reading, literacy and academic excellence.
