Jaenique Swartz 

THE first-ever Khomas Regional Social Science Quiz will take place at the Unam main campus next week Thursday. 

The event, which is has been organised by the Khomas Regional Council, is to be an annual event, and it is aimed at boosting the young minds of primary school pupils in the region to display their knowledge and critical thinking skills in social science subjects such as history, geography, philosophy, and economics.   “The Khomas Directorate of Education, Arts and Culture has nine clusters. Schools organised their own internal quizzes from which the top two pupils per grade from each school went through to the cluster quiz,” said Victoria Simasiku, senior education officer at the Khomas Regional Council. 

 These top performing learners will then represent their schools during the competition, Simasiku said, adding that the process was necessary to narrow down the number of participants on the regional level and to create a competitive quiz in the end.  

“The occasion will highlight the integration of visually and hearing impaired pupils who will get an opportunity to compete with pupils from the mainstream,” she said 

Moreover, the quiz is intended to bring about a healthy competitive spirit among pupils while removing barriers to learning and simultaneously emphasising the relevance of social sciences in moulding the nation’s future leaders. “The world is a global village, and we are here to fill the earth, cultivating our soil and broadening our boundaries with our neighbouring countries. Arise Namibian child in grasping your social studies content and make a difference in the development of our motherland,” Simasiku said.

 The judges for this event will comprise primary school teachers from different parts of the region to bring an exciting experience for the viewers and participants as the quiz will be hosted live.  

Several companies have made sponsorship to the event with Sisa Namandje and Co. Inc giving N$10 000 and Dinapama pledging unisex T-shirts valued at N$20 976 for all participants. NewRea Trading have sponsored N$15 000 in photography and videography services. 

One of the cluster facilitators Ms Hatutale, a teacher, shared some encouraging words with the learners, “What you learn in social studies will shape the rest of your life, so nothing can dim the light which shines within you. Go out there and shine”.  -jaeniqueswartz@icloud.com