Lagos Introduces French Quiz Contest in Secondary Schools

The Lagos State Government has added a new diet of quiz competition to the co-curricular activities of secondary schools in the state. The maiden edition of the competition conducted in French Language tagged, ‘A la Connaissance de Lagos’, meaning ‘How much of Lagos do you know?’, held at the Immaculate Heart Comprehensive School Hall, Maryland.

Eighteen schools from the six education districts competed at the grand finale of the competition which saw Sito Gbetrome Senior Secondary School, Seme, Badagry smiling home with the star prize. Ikeja Senior High School and Badagry Grammar School emerged second and third positions respectively.

In her remarks, the Deputy Governor, Dr. Oluranti Adebule lauded the ingenuity of the Multilingual Centre for initiating the quiz competition in French Language, saying that it has challenged the students to know more about their immediate environment and answer questions in French.

Adebule, who was represented by the Director, Basic Education Services, Mr. Abiodun Oni, said the new competition was meant to redirect the minds of the students towards keeping abreast of happenings in their immediate environment, have a sense of history and develop penchant for reading wider and broadening their knowledge.

She recalled how the state government had collaborated with TV5 World Service, a multimedia platform for the teaching and learning of French Language; and ensure that the Multilingual Centre is certified as an International Language Resource Centre (ILRC).

“400 French teachers were trained to take full advantage of the terms of certification in realisation of the importance of French as a major lingua franca in the world,” she said.

Adebule added that the intensive study of French Language and the introduction of quiz and debate competitions in the language in the state is capable of producing a corps of diplomats as French and English are the leading international languages of the world.

She advised the students to study the French Language in other to boost communication with other Francophone countries aside commerce, socio-cultural interaction as well as the nation’s security management. “French Language graduates stand better chance of employment by multinational companies and organisations.”

The Director of the Multilingual Centre, Mrs. Taiwo Haastrup said the state government introduced the centre to serve as a platform that will enhance French Language teachers’ and students’ proficiency and efficiency for effective service delivery.

She thanked Governor Akinwummi Ambode for efforts towards the education sector and urged the students to take advantage of the programme and be focused.