ISLAMABAD, Jan 28: Sensation and enthusiasm marked the beginning of the five-day Dawn in Education regional Spelling Bee championship that started here at the Islamabad Club auditorium on Monday.

Students from 54 schools took part in the spelling competitions on the first day, which were watched by hundreds of spectators, mostly students, teachers and parents.

Contests were held in six pools, each comprising nine schools. Each school has sent three students in the shape of a team.

The event saw sensational draws amongst many teams as the well-prepared students displayed unbelieving resistance in their bids not to leave the field open to their competitors.

At many points, the spectators had to hold their breath for quite some time and pray for their favourite ones as the “Sudden Death” started to eliminate some of the brightest students for giving the wrong answer first.

Six schools participated in the competitions on the first day. These included Beacon House School System, Margalla Campus; EMS High School, Islamabad; Khaldunia High School, Islamabad; Islamabad Convent School; and the City School Cantt Seniors.

On Tuesday, students would not compete in pools, as each of them would have to depend on himself/herself even against their own team members. The individual competitions are likely to bring envy on the faces of not only the students, but their teachers and parents as well.

Unilever Pakistan has cosponsored the event with Dawn Group of Newspapers, while the Oxford University Press has arranged the judges and prizes for the championship. This year, some 100 schools from the federal capital and nearby areas are participating in the competition compared to 69 last year.

Competitions among the students in the 12-14 age group will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, while Friday would see students aged between 15 and 17 locked in some interesting battles of proving the worth of their memory and reading habits.

Zara Basharat, one of the organisers, said Spelling Bee encouraged students to adopt the habit of reading. The event had been winning over more and more schools and students. She said all the students had arrived well-prepared and it seemed that their parents and teachers had helped them a lot.

Spelling Bee championship will start in Lahore from Tuesday, and in Karachi in February. The national championship will be held in March.