The Juba Primary Schools Mini Competition (JPSMC) 2024 is organized by the Excellence Foundation for South Sudan, featuring spelling bees, quizzes, and debates to empower primary school children. The competition aims to enhance literacy, problem-solving skills, and self-confidence among students by fostering a spirit of healthy competition and teamwork. This year's event will take place from September 30 to October 30, 2024, with 16 schools participating in various rounds leading to a grand finale.

1. Juba Primary Schools
Mini Competition 2024
EMPOWERING SCHOOL CHILDREN TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL

2. About the Competition
The Juba Primary Schools Mini Competition (JPSMC) 2024 is the third edition
of this contest being organized by the Excellence Foundation for South Sudan
(EFSS) through its South Sudan National Spelling Bee (SSNSB) project for
interested public and private primary schools.
Schools will compete in Spelling Bees, Speed Challenge Quizzes, Speech and
Academic Debate through exchange visits.
This is conducted for primary school children with an innovative approach
that combines learning with fun and competition.
This will encourage them to explore the English language, expand their
vocabulary and improve their communication and comprehension skills.

3. About the Competition
Step 8:
Completing
Feedback
Form
Step 7:
Grand
Finale
Step 6:
Commence
ment
Step 5:
Fixtures
Announce
ment
Step 4:
Team
Assessment
Step 3:
Teachers’
Envisioning
Step 2:
Admission
to
WhatsApp
Group
Step 1:
Online
Registratio
n

4. About the Competition
This competition will happen in Term III from 30th September to 30th October
2024
There will be two preliminary rounds in the group stages before the top 08
schools proceed to the Quarter Finals, Semi-finals and best 02 to the Grand
Finale.
In the Grand Finale, we will announce the winner, top spellers, quizzers, and
best team coach.
There will be 16 primary schools in this third edition of the competition.
The competition is part of our vision of ensuring that every South Sudanese
child reaches their full intellectual potential.

5. Program Objectives
A. To advocate for child education in South Sudan and foster a change in community
attitudes whereby everybody is given the opportunity to succeed.
B. To develop critical problem-solving skills of pupils to learn to think more creatively and
get a chance to test their knowledge in new, real-world situations.
C. To provide orientation/training to pupils and adjudicators, responsible teachers in their
respective schools to enhance the promotion of debates, public speaking, quizzes,
spelling, and writing and provide a skilled foundation to build a career – therefore
reducing levels of lack of confidence in children.
D. To empower pupils to believe in their dreams and to enable them to acquire
presentation skills (through formal and informal prospects) so that they can live to
realize their potential.

6. Importance of the Program
A. It enables the participating pupils to express themselves freely through the different competition
categories and to develop the spirit of healthy competition. Stimulate playing, acting, recitation,
speaking and narrating in pupils. These activities help in achieving overall functioning of
education.
B. These activities guide pupils and teachers on how to organize and present an activity, how to
develop skills, and how to co-operate and co-ordinate in different situations - all these help in
leadership qualities.
C. It provides avenues of socialization, self-identification and self-assessment when the child meets
organizers, fellow participants, teachers and people outside their school during exchange visits.
D. Inculcate the values to respect other’s views, feeling and perfects in decision making.
E. It develops a sense of belongingness, provide motivation for learning and the values like physical,
psychological, ethical, academic, civic, social, cultural recreational and disciplinary values.

7. Expected Outcomes
1. Developed learners’ speaking skills and ability to express themselves
verbally in front of a group, which builds confidence.
2. Learners research skills are developed and broadened, their horizons to
begin exploring ‘big’ ethical questions teaching them to see things from a
range of perspectives, build self-esteem because it is highly validating for
children to be asked their opinion and show them that their thoughts and
voice matter.
3. Formation of debate and reading clubs in schools that shall offer children
the opportunity to take part in competitions against other teams from the
same or different schools locally, nationally or internationally.

8. Team Formation
Quiz and Spelling Teams should have 05 pupils per team in each round.
The speech is only one speaker per school in a particular match.
The teams for the debate must consist of 03 speakers speaking in each round.
That means each school will have three teams; a debating team (03 members),
a speech person, and a Quiz and Spelling Team (05 members) for every round
they will participate in.
Schools can decide to have two different teams for the spelling and quiz
respectively.
Contact teachers should mentor and prepare as many pupils as possible ahead
of each competitive round. We advise schools to hold an internal contest to
choose the best representatives before the inter-schools competition.

9. Format of the Competition
1. The competition will happen through school exchange visits hosted by the
proposition team in every round.
2. The school opposing the motion shall be the visiting team and shall transport not
more than 30 participants to the competition at the host school.
3. All debates will be prepped motions which means that the teams will be told the
motions and their side (whether they are opposers or proposers) at least four (03)
days ahead of time. This year, the themes will be CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION.
4. Words for spelling bee or quiz questions will not be told in advance.
5. The results of each competition will be announced after the match by the
adjudicator(s).
6. Teams will have an opportunity to approach judges for personal feedback should
there be extra time.

10. General Debate Rules
1. All normal debating rules will apply in this competition.
2. This means that debates will be adjudicated based on content, style,
strategy, role fulfilment and engagement through Point of
Information (PoIs) and rebuttal.
3. Any coaches may not assist their teams during the debate.
4. All 03 speakers must speak for 5 minutes and summary speeches at
the end of the debate in 4 minutes and 30 seconds by the team
captain.
5. Speakers will have an additional 20 seconds to finish their sentence
in case they are caught by time.

11. Team roles
The captains
The captain gives two speeches – an opening speech, and a summation after all the rest of the team has
spoken. You do not have to use the same captain for each debate, you can rotate the roles if you want to
give different students the chance to be captain.
The captains’ opening speeches
The captain of the proposition is responsible for defining the motion, breaking it down to its relevant parts
and giving their team’s interpretation of it.
It is very important that the captain of the opposition then responds to the definition given by the captain of
the proposition. The opposition captain may then accept, challenge or broaden the proposition’s definition
by giving their own team’s definition of it.
Each captain should introduce their teammates and the arguments they will make. As well as addressing the
motion and introducing the team, each captain should advance an argument of their own, but bear in mind
that they will not have as much time to do this as other members of the team!

12. Second, and third speakers
1. Each speaker should have their own approach to or angle on the motion.
Everyone on the team should be aware of the points their teammates will
use to avoid repetition and to ensure continuity of argument.
2. If you are using a team line it is important that no one forgets! But don’t
overuse it - it should be reserved for key moments or to emphasize a point.
3. Each team member is responsible for refuting and rebutting the arguments
of the other team. If a speaker does not address any of the other team’s
points, then he/she will not receive any points under the refutation and
rebuttal section of the marking sheet.
4. As the third speakers will have heard most of their opponents’ argument
there is an expectation that they will employ more refutation and rebuttal
than the second speakers.

13. Captains’ summation
1. Summations occur after the third member of the team has spoken. The
captain of the opposition is called first, followed by the final speaker of the
night, the captain of the proposition.
2. Captains should remind the adjudication panel of their team’s key
arguments. They should try and tie all the arguments together.
3. A captain may not introduce new material in their summation – they will
not receive any points for any new material they bring in at this stage and
may have marks deducted.
4. The captain’s summation is an opportunity for them to refute and rebut the
arguments of the other team and to recall the various rebuttals that were
employed by their team.

14. Researchers and substitutes
1. Teams must have substitutes who are involved in the
preparation of each debate and who are able to step-in
should a member of the team be unable to debate.
2. Researchers are very useful as they can help with
interviews and listen critically to debaters as they
practise and prepare.
3. You do not have to stick to the same three speakers for
each debate, for example if you have six students
involved you can rotate them.

15. Behaviour at the debate
1. Interruptions, calling for points of order or any form of heckling by either
team members or members of the audience is not permitted.
2. Sarcasm and personal or snide remarks are not in keeping with the spirit of
this competition.
3. Adjudicators will dock marks in ‘ability to communicate, persuade and
engage’.
4. Teams and their supporters should treat their opponents, their peers and the
venue with respect.
5. Adjudicators should be mindful that they are representing the organisers as a
visitor to the school.

16. Speech Competition Rules
1. Each competitor will deliver a MEMORISED talk (not a reading) on a subject they have chosen.
The speech must be an original composition by the pupil. It may contain ideas from various
sources but must be verbalized in the student’s own words.
2. The ideas being expressed in the speech need to be organized in a logical way.
3. There should be a clear introduction and conclusion.
4. The speech is for an audience of peers, so the topic should be neither so simple that it seems
unimportant, nor so obscure that it leaves them struggling to understand.
5. Length of Speech is no more than 5 minutes in duration.
6. 1 point per minute will be deducted if a speaker goes overtime by more than 1 minute to a
maximum of 2 minutes. Entrants who go over by more than 3 minutes will be disqualified.
7. Pupils will be introduced by an announcer and are therefore NOT required to introduce
themselves before they begin their speech.

17. Speech Competition Rules
Please note:
1. students MUST learn their speech – in the previous year there has been too much
reliance on paper.
2. each speech MUST be entertaining and engage the audience.
3. factual speeches need to have ‘relief’ within them.
4. students should be very careful with choice of topic – they should make sure it
captivates them.
5. students should be confident.
6. movement and gesture should be minimal and there should not be any costuming.
Adjudicators highly recommend that pupils wear school uniform.

18. Speed Challenge Quiz
The Speed Challenge Quiz will have two sections.
In the first section, each team will have three separate 60 seconds to answer as many questions as
possible from Mathematics, English, Religious Education, General Science, Social Studies, General
Knowledge Questions and Current Affairs.
Teams have 10 seconds to answer every question in the first section. For Science and Mathematics
questions that require calculation, 30 seconds is allowed.
In the second section, each team member will face each other in the categories of Mathematics,
English, Religious Education, General Science, Social Studies, and Current Affairs. Five (05) questions
in each subject for each quizzer.
Once read, the question must be answered in 10 seconds. This round lasts five (05) minutes.
A team gets 1 point for every correct answer and 0 point for a wrong answer. The team that gives
more correct answers wins.

19. Spelling Bee
Spellers may not receive any help of any sort from other spellers or members
of the audience
There will be a total of three rounds with each speller getting a maximum of 10
words in Round One, 2 words in Round Two and 3 words in Round Three
In each round, spellers will receive one word to spell at a time.
Each word will be spelt within 20 seconds and the bell will be used for time
limits.
Contestants should pronounce the words before and after spelling them.
For all words with capitals, the speller must indicate the Capital Letter.

20. Round 1: 10 words, 1 minute
1. Each Speller gets one (01) minute to spell as many words as possible.
2. Maximum ten (10) words per speller
3. A timekeeper keeps the time with a stopwatch or phone. They say ‘Go” to start the
round
4. The Pronouncer asks each word without giving a definition or using the word in a
sentence
5. Spellers can say “pass’” if they don’t know the word
6. Spellers can ask the word to be repeated as many times as they want
7. Once the minute is over – the total number of correct words is counted up
8. The speller gets 1 point for each correct word spelled.

21. Round 2: Two Words, 30 seconds each
1. Each speller gets two (02) words to spell
2. The pronouncer gives the word, the definition, and an example in a sentence
3. If the speller gets the word correctly, they get a point.
4. If they spell the word incorrectly, they do not get a point.
5. The speller has only one chance to spell the word. If they stop in the middle, they
cannot restart.
6. They have 20 seconds to spell the word
7. If they don’t spell the word in 20 seconds, they do not get a point.

22. Round 3: Three Words, 20 seconds each
1. Each speller gets three words to spell in this round.
2. Each word will be spelt within 20 seconds and the bell will be used for time limits.
3. The pronouncer asks each word without giving a definition or using the word in a
sentence
4. Spellers can say “pass’” if they don’t know the word
5. If they have enough time, they can come back to words they ‘passed”
6. Spellers can ask the word to be repeated as many times as they want
7. The speller gets 1 point for each correct word spelled.
8. Words in this round are intermediate to advanced level and are taken from subjects
across the South Sudan curriculum

23. The pattern of words goes from
Single vowel words to double vowel and double consonant words.
After that words move onto “spelling across the curriculum”.
These include:
1. Country names
2. Languages
3. Names from science, social studies, science and mathematics
4. Sports and exercise words
This section also includes generally misspelled words and trick words
These are not words you would have prepared for!

24. Spelling Bee
Spellers must spell each letter. They may not use “double” or
any other shorthand in their spelling.
If a word is unclear to a contestant, he or she may ask for the
word to be re-pronounced, defined or used in a sentence.
The contestant can also ask for alternative pronunciation in
case they do not get the word master’s accent.
Once a contestant has begun to spell a word, he or she may not
ask for a word to be re-pronounced, defined or used in a
sentence.

25. Adjudication Information
1. Adjudicators for this competition are expected to be available to judge all
competitive rounds. As with any other competition, judges will be allocated
to each round based on experience level.
2. There will ONLY be independent judges not affiliated with any of the
participating schools.
3. There will be either two (most likely) or three (less likely) judges per round,
depending on the availability of our volunteer judges.
4. Ranking will be based on average percentage points scored by each team.
5. The final score will be the average percentage point from the four
categories. i.e. (Spelling + Speed Challenge Quiz + Speech + Debate) / 4

26. General Rules
1. The tab (sheet with results from the competition) will be released
after every match where teams will be able to see the rankings,
results from the rounds and participant scores in each round.
2. Teams are expected to be punctual. Teams who do not arrive at the
expected time (30 minutes before schedule) will receive a 15-point
deduction.
3. Teams are also expected to join every competitive round once their
prep time is finished.
4. Teams who fail to do this will also forfeit that round.

27. Appeals procedure
1. When there is a dispute, the organizers (EFSS) as appropriate will make every effort to
resolve matters by reconciliation.
2. It is possible that such means will fail, and the dispute is such that penalties are
appropriate but not specifically defined by the General Regulations for the Competition.
Then the organizers shall have discretionary power to impose penalties. This should
seek to maintain discipline and offer other solutions which may satisfy the offended
parties.
3. In the competition, there shall be an Appeals Committee (AC). The Appeals Committee
is appointed before the start of the first round. The Appeals Committee shall consist of
a Chairman, at least two members and, when needed, two reserve members from EFSS
4. The Chairman, the members and reserve members shall, if possible, be independent.
No member of the Appeals Committee involved in the dispute shall rule in that dispute.

28. Appeals procedure
1. Members of the AC shall not be from any participating school.
2. A team or a registered official representing a team may appeal against any
ruling made by the Chief Adjudicator or one of their assistants. Such an
official may include the team’s captain, head coach or other person as
defined here.
3. An appeal shall be accompanied by a letter and submitted in written form
via email to hello@spellingbeess.org not later than 24 hours after the round.
4. The decisions of the Appeals Committee (AC) shall be final. The team’s loss
maybe overturned if the appeal is successful.
5. The team may also gain extra points if the appeal is unsuccessful but
considered reasonable in the view of the committee.

29. Adjudication Score Sheets
DEBATEMARKINGSHEET.docx
QUIZSCORESHEET.docx
SPELLINGBEESCORESHEET.docx

30. General Rules
Each school will be given two fixtures in the group stages.
One of these will be ‘home’ competition, where the
school hosts, and one will be ‘away’ where the school
travels to their opponent’s school.
The home team is the proposition side and the away team
is the opposition side (although there can be exceptions
for example, if a school can’t host a competition for some
reason).

31. General Rules
1. It will be the responsibility of visiting schools to transport their teams to
the host school at least 30 minutes before the competition starts.
2. The host school shall supply the event moderator (Chairperson) and the
visiting school shall supply the secretary.
3. The organisers of the Juba Primary Schools Mini competition (EFSS) will
assign the timekeeper and judges (Chief Judge and one or two assistants).
4. As a kind gesture, host schools can always provide visitors with water
(and maybe biscuits) - contact teachers can discuss this with their
administrators for early preparation.

32. General Rules
1. Competitions will take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and
Thursdays in the morning (9 AM - 12 PM) and in the afternoon
(1 PM - 3 PM)
2. Each school will participate only once weekly.
3. We realise that schools are busy places, and these dates may not
suit everyone.
4. For this reason, if the date does not suit your school, you are free
to rearrange it for any date within the competition phase, with
the agreement of the opposing school.

33. General Rules
Participating schools must let the organisers of the Juba
Primary Schools Mini-Contest (JPSMC) know at least one
day before the original date.
This is very important as we need to have enough time to
recruit our volunteer adjudicators.
Schools must also be aware that we rely on the goodwill
of our adjudicators and when competitions are cancelled
with little or no notice, it inconveniences our volunteers
as well as staff.

34. General Rules
The team ranking will be decided on average scores.
Of the 16 participating schools, the top 08 teams will go to
knock out the top 04 to the semifinals, and the best two will
battle out in the grand finale.
When calculating the top speakers, we will use the scores of
all speakers who have spoken at least 03 rounds.
Speaker ranking will be determined based on speaker scores
in all the rounds.

35. Awards
(a) Champions -
1. Trophy (We’ll retract (take back) two weeks after the grand finale)
2. Cash Prize SSP 150,000
3. Certificate
4. Medals - 10 medals
5. Stationery for 15 team members (2 Books, pen and pencil)
(b) 1st Runners Up (Second Place)
1. Cash Prize SSP 70,000
2. Certificate
3. Stationery for 15 team members (2 Books, pen and pencil)

36. Awards
A.Best Coach
1. A notebook and pen
2. Cash Prize SSP 50,000
B. All Schools
1. Certificates for 10 team members
2. Certificates for all coaches
3. Certificate of participation for all the schools

37. Grand Finale
A. At the Grand Finale award ceremony, we will be announcing the
top spellers, speakers, winners of both finals, best judge,
teacher (coach) and speakers selected for school teams.
B. We’ll offer refreshments to the teams only at the grand finale.
Since the competition will be during school hours, we advise
participating pupils and teachers to use their regular means of
feeding.
C. Few Guests will be invited including head teachers from
participating schools