St Gregory’s College Wins 2023 Science Contest 

St. Gregory’s College, Lagos, has emerged winner of the 2023 Helmbridge Science Challenge, an annual quiz competition aimed at rewarding academic excellence, promoting teamwork, critical thinking, quick thinking ability to respond under pressure, and sportsmanship among secondary school students.

The college defeated St. Michael’s Anglican Church College, Coker, in a tension-soaked final match which initially saw St. Michael’s Anglican College winning the first round and looking too good to beat St. Gregory’s College. Earlier in the third-place match, Sure State School, Ogun State, trounced Government College, Eric Moore, Lagos, to clinch the third-place trophy for the first time in the school’s history.

Speaking during the programme held recently in Lagos, the Director of Cambridge Study Centre, Mr Wilfred Dieke, explained the importance of the Science challenge in the integral human development of the students. He said education transcends passing exams: a complete education that Helmbridge encourages entails students’ human, cultural, scientific and moral formation.

Thirteen secondary schools, including King’s College, Lagos; Government College, Eric Moore, Lagos; Gbaja Boys High School, Gbaja, Lagos; and St. Finbarr’s College, Yaba, Lagos, participated in this year’s Science challenge. The modus operandi of the Science challenge, Dieke noted, is unique and exhilarating.

Each participating school forms a team comprising students with diverse knowledge in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and general knowledge. Each school team usually consists of five members who work together to answer questions.

The questions are more challenging and require a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Teams accumulate points based on correct answers. A quizmaster asks a student in the hot seat a question. If he answers correctly, he fills in a blank on the whiteboard; otherwise, the same question is thrown to his teammates to redeem him. The same question goes to their opponents if the teammates fail to redeem them. 

In his remarks, the special guest, Otunba Bayo Adeoye, who presented the first place trophy to the champions, and other prizes to schools, told the students that engaging in extracurricular activities, such as the Science challenge, promotes well-rounded development. 

A Lagos-based legal practitioner and human rights activist, Ben Abraham, stated that whether it’s captaining a sports team, participating in a debating competition, organising a club event, or leading a community service project, extracurricular activities in schools offer students the opportunity to cultivate valuable qualities and provide them with the chance to take on leadership roles and responsibilities in the future.

Established in 1972, Helmbridge Study Centre is a project of the Educational Co-operation Society, a non-profit trust registered in Nigeria.