The competition, which will be in knockout format, would bring together 16 Upper Basic Schools to be divided into two groups and later paired against each other.
The four schools that qualified for the finals are St. Therese’s Upper Basic School, Kotu Upper Basic School, St. Peter’s Upper Basic School and Latrikunda Upper Basic School.
A competitor that deserves mention is Saikou Janneh of St. Peter’s Upper Basic School. He alone represented his school with his colleague but is said to be suffering from toothache.
Speaking at the opening of the competition held recently at the Friendship Hotel, Jainaba Jadama, coordinator of the competition, said she was of the hope this was a start of a long-lasting relation between Peak and schools.
Peak has been in existence in The Gambia for 40 years and attaches to its corporate social responsibility, through sport, health, education and other sectors, she said.
She also said they visited schools that participated in the competition and organised internal competitions for students where they selected the best to represent their respective schools in the inter-school spelling bee competition.
Ms Jadama thanked principals, teachers and students of schools that took part in the competition.
She disclosed that the school that will win the competition would receive a cash prize of D20,000, runner-up D15,000, third place D10,000 and fourth place D5,000.
All other schools that have participated in the competition would receive consolation prizes of Peak gift packs, she said.
Jainaba Jadama, a marketing officer at AMRA Consultancy who coordinates all Peak activities, was supported by three judges - Momodou Bah from the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Omar Saine, a Law Student at the University of The Gambia, and Joseph M. A. Mendy, a teacher at Latrikunda Upper Basic School.
Mr Mendy described the competition as worthwhile, calling on the schools that have qualified for the finals to prepare themselves well.