All words in the dictionary would, on Sunday, lead to the Sarvodaya Vidyalaya School auditorium at Nalanchira where the stage is set for the The Hindu Spelling Bee contest.
A Newspaper in Education (NIE) initiative of The Hindu , the contest is open to students of schools that subscribe to the school edition of The Hindu . Each school can send six contestants. All students currently enrolled in classes 6 to 9 (as on March 1, 2014) are eligible to participate. The contestant should not be related (either immediate family or extended family) to a serving employee of The Hindu .
All contestants should be in school uniform and have with them a valid school identity card and a writing pad and pen for the preliminary event. Each group of contestants should be accompanied by a teacher from the school. The preliminary selection at the venue would be done through a written test comprising three rounds. The semi-final and the final rounds would be on-stage events. All these rounds feature questions on spelling and vocabulary, the main focus being on word meaning, synonyms, homonyms, and heteronyms. An understanding of etymology would be beneficial to a contestant.
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary and its addenda section, copyright 2002, Merriam-Webster, (Webster’s Third) would be the sole source for the spelling of words. It would be the primary source used with regard to the pronunciations, definitions, and origins of language for the purpose of the competition.
This dictionary would be the only printed source consulted by event officials, as well as the sole source used during the contest to verify the information in the event’s prepared lists.
Contestants should report at the venue at 8.30 a.m. The contest would be from 9 a.m. to 3.30 p.m.
Though light refreshments would be served at the venue, contestants are advised to bring lunch with them.
The knowledge partner of the event is Thoughts Academy, Thiruvananthapuram. The associate sponsor is Indian Bank and co-sponsors are SBI Life Insurance and TIME. The venue has been sponsored by Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Thiruvananthapuram. Beverages and snacks are sponsored by The Capitol and prizes by Modern Book Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.
