A foundation, DO Take Action, has announced the 2026 edition of the Spelling Bee Competition inclusive education initiative for children and young people with diverse abilities.
The 2026 competition builds on the success of the inaugural 2025 edition held in Abuja and represents a significant expansion in both scale and partnerships.
Its Executive Director, Precious Obi in a statement issued Wednesday this year’s edition would be co-hosted by Let’s Talk Humanity (LTH) and supported by new partners, including Daisy Oak Foundation, Platonic Academy Namibia, Vivacity Development and Cedar Seed Foundation.
The competition which comprises the Junior which is between ages 8 –14 and Senior category which is between ages 15 –18, would take place on 30 October , 2026, at the Lake Greenfield Hotel, Jahi, Abuja.
She noted: “The competition brings together deaf and hard-of-hearing learners, children with autism, ADHD and learning difficulties, visually impaired learners, and gifted and talented spellers to compete on a single national stage.
“Participants will demonstrate their words using the communication method that works best for them, including Nigerian Sign Language, Braille, or spoken and written formats.
“How can we talk about sustainable development when a child’s ability to learn, communicate, participate, or even dream is limited simply because they experience the world differently?
“These children are not going to be defined by their differences, but recognised by their strengths. Different abilities, one stage,” said Precious Ebere, Executive Director of DO Take Action.”
Obi explained that the Spelling Bee Competition was launched in 2025 as a single-city pilot in Abuja, establishing proof of concept for an inclusive, multi-format spelling competition.
She added: “One year later, DO Take Action is scaling that model into a growing national platform widening its category structure, deepening its partner network, and laying the groundwork for the initiative’s continent-wide ambitions.
“As this year’s co-host of the Signing Bee, we are proud to support an initiative that demonstrates what truly inclusive education can look like in practice.
“This year’s expanded competition creates space for children with different abilities to participate, communicate, compete, and be recognised for their strengths.
“At Let’s Talk Humanity, we believe inclusion should not be an afterthought or an accommodation, but a standard in how we design opportunities for every child.
“By bringing children with diverse abilities into the same space and celebrating their unique ways of learning and expressing themselves, the Signing Bee is helping to challenge limiting perceptions of disability.”
Obi emphasised that as a champion for education, the foundation sees inclusion not as an add-on, but as a fundamental part of how education should be designed and delivered.
According to her, The Signing/Spelling Bee Initiative is part of the organisation’s wider effort to build education systems that recognise ability, remove barriers, and create meaningful opportunities for every child to participate and succeed.
“For DO Take Action, inclusive education means moving beyond adapting children to fit existing systems. It means building competitions, curricula, learning environments, and community structures that are designed to respond to the diverse needs and abilities of children.”
Obi explained that the 2026 edition brings this vision to life creating a platform where children and young people with diverse abilities can demonstrate their skills, build confidence, compete alongside their peers, and be celebrated for what they can do.
She pointed out that this year, the initiative makes a historic leap beyond Nigeria, scaling to Southern Africa as Platonic Academy Namibia takes the hosting lead for the inaugural Signing Bee Namibia.
The Executive Director said this milestone cross-border expansion leverages Platonic Academy’s strong national connections to champion neurodiversity and sign language visibility, marking the first major step in establishing a recurring, continent-wide platform for disability inclusion.
Also, Namibian mathematics and science educator and Co-Founding Managing Director of Platonic Academy Namibia, Amanda Mungunda said: “Inclusion cannot merely be a policy conversation; it must be a lived experience where every child steps onto the stage and confidently says, ‘I belong here, I can do this, and my ability matters.
“While Namibia has made commendable progress, with primary schools featuring adapted infrastructure growing from just 3.7 per cent in 2020 to nearly 25 per cent today.
“We recognise that true inclusion requires platforms that actively celebrate our children’s unique strengths. By bringing the Signing Bee to Namibian soil this November, we are bridging national borders to dismantle systemic barriers.
“As a mathematician, I see this partnership as writing the ultimate equation for Africa’s future: when we unite across the continent to empower our diverse minds, there is absolutely no limit to what they can achieve. This is more than an event; it is the dawn of a pan-African movement.”