By Ayodele Popoola
Akoko Zone has emerged overall winners of the Basic Education School Sport (BESS) competition held at St Thomas Aquinas College sporting arena in Akure. While Okitipupa zone came second, as Owo zone won the football event.
The game featured march past, football match, scrabble, table tennis, field and track events including 4×100 relay race, high and long jump, among others.
The event organised by the Universal Basic Education Commission(UBEC), in collaboration with the Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), attracted participants from all the 18 local governments of Ondo State, grouped into five zones which are Owo, Okitipupa, Ondo, Akoko and Akure zones.
Earlier, the Executive Chairman, Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board, Victor Olabimtan while declaring the event open emphasised the need to encourage the students to embrace sporting activities, as it helps in all-round and robust development.
He said early introduction of sport into the life of the students helps in developing their cognitive, affective and psycho-motor skills with a view to sharpen their intellectual minds.
Olabimtan stressed that the competition was organised to harness the potential of learners and to develop their skills for self-sustenance and to serve as bedrock for the nation’s sport development.
He said “UBEC /SUBEB recognizing the importance of school sports as well as the existing gap in school sport, compiled with the National Council on Education(NCE) directives set aside fund for sports development in schools for the purpose of reviving and promoting sport at the basis education level,” he said.
The State Coordinator of UBEC, Olanike Adams, while speaking with Sporting Hope said the idea behind the competition was just to ensure that education is all encompassing.
Ondo State Head of Service, Pastor Kayode Ogundele, in his remark eulogized the efforts of the organizers in putting together the competition among the primary schools across the nation particularly in Ondo state for the purpose of identifying and development of talents among the pupils.
