GBARNGA, Bong – Motivate a Girl, a Monrovia-based youth organization has ended a quizzing tournament among female students of six high schools in Gbarnga and surrounding areas.

Participating schools included Dolokelen Gboveh High School, St. Martin’s Catholic High School, Alexandria Andrew Academy, Cuttington Community High School, St. Mark’s Lutheran High School and the William V.S. Tubman Gray High School.

The president of Motivate a Girl, Faith Siakor, told The Bush Chicken that the initiative is aimed at motivating and strengthening females to be active participants in academic activities in their various schools in order to compete with their male counterparts.

President of Motivate a Girl, Faith Siakor. Photo: Moses Bailey

She said most female students in Liberia are not viewed as competitive as their male counterparts when it comes to extra curriculum activities such as quizzing and debates.

“Our dream as an organization is to make female students in high schools overcome academic fears and begin to compete with male students academically,” Siakor added.

She said the Gbarnga tournament is the beginning of a series of tournaments to be organized across Liberia.

Bong county education officer Edward Kpulun hailed Motivate a Girl for organizing the tournament in the county.

“[The] Bong County Education Office is thinking about organizing a countywide quizzing competition for students in the county and I think this is a good start by Motivate a Girl,” he said, in his opening remarks at the tournament, which took place at the Dolokelen Gboveh High School in Gbarnga.

Bong’s county education officer Edward Kpulun. Photo: Moses Bailey

Alexandria Andrew Academy defeated the Cuttington Community High School with a total of 135 points against 80 points in the grand finale to emerge as winners of the tournament.

The Academy received a trophy and a US$100 prize as first place winners, while Cuttington Community High School received US$75.

Third place finisher William V.S. Tubman Gray High School secured a US$50 prize while the rest of the schools received US$10 each.

In an interview following the competition, the captain of Alexandria Andrew Academy’s team, Leona Kun, expressed delight in the win and the realization that girls can compete on the same level as boys.

“From now on, I will not sit back again and look up to the boys in my class to answer all the questions,” the 11^th grader said. “From this competition, I have realized that we the girls are also smart as the boys.”

The tournament was Motivate a Girl’s first activity outside Monrovia since its establishment in July 2015. The group’s president, Faith Siakor, said this is the beginning of her institution’s decentralization campaign.

Featured photo by Moses Bailey