LINSU announces 2nd National Academic County Meet

The Liberia National Student Union (LINSU) has begun its second edition of the Academic County Meet-2023 and awarded Cllr. Phil Tarpeh Dixon, Africa's 10 Times Best Quiz Master with its highest honor of excellence (Wuo Garpi Tappia Laurel of excellence).

LINSU President Mohammed “Gandhi” Kamara narrated that the ongoing National County Academic Meet-2023 is held under the auspices of the LINSU and with technical support and partnership with the International Quizzing Association (IQA)/Liberia Institute for knowledge and Excellence (LIKE). 

Speaking at a news conference Tuesday, July 11, 2023 in Monrovia, the LINSU President disclosed that the initiative is also being supported financially by the Government of Liberia (GoL) through the Ministry of Education(MoE).

"This competition is a premier platform in a school versus school and county versus county format, only for secondary school-going kids and it seeks to maximize their abilities beyond the limitation of the classroom by rapidly answering questions drawn from the holistic perspective of academia, being embedded into five (5) distinct categories (Mathematics, Language Arts, General Science, Social Studies & Lifestyle)," the LINSU head mentioned.

He indicated that after exhausting all the preliminary fixtures throughout the 15 political subdivisions, 15 schools from different denominations (Public Schools, private schools, and private faith-based schools) emerged as champions of each respective county. Of the 15 schools, five are public schools, eight are private faith-based schools, and two (2) are private schools.

Mr. Kamara explained that the consistency of Liberian veteran quizzer, Cllr. Phil Tarpeh Dixon is unmatched by any Liberian, and his reputation for being Africa's 10 times best quizzer deserves the excellence award. 

Presenting the award, he described the event as an eye-opener for would-be quizzers or those who are aspiring to become quizzers.

 Cllr. Phil Tarpeh Dixon was then awarded the (Wou Garpi Tappia Laurel of excellence award). 

Mr. Kamara use the occasion to call on Liberia high school quizzers to be studious to challenge their counterparts and make Liberia proud again, adding that it's an eye-opener experience for all high school students to challenge the stereotype of life and muster  the courage.

"Establishing that we have reached one of the most important conferences, meanwhile, as Liberia’s foremost student institution, we are obliged by the consistency of proven brilliance of veteran scholar Cllr. Phil Tarpeh Dixon. Veteran Phil’s academic prowess is by far unmatched by any Liberian, and his reputation for being 10-time Africa's Best Quizzer is a character of extraordinary geniuses," the LINSU President asserted.

“As such, I, as president of the National Students’ Movement, having consulted the full bench of the 5th Post-War National Executive Committee, seize this moment to bestow upon Cllr. Phil Tarpeh Dixon with LINSU’S highest honor of excellence, the “Wuo Garpi Tappia Laurel of Excellence,” he noted.

"We are admonishing every young student to see this laureate academician as a character by every genuine standard worthy of emulation. Done and issued on this eleventh (11th) Day of July AD 2023, under the watchful guidance of the 5th Postwar National Executive Committee of LINSU," he further stated.

Receiving the (Wou Garpi Tappia Laurel of Excellence award), Africa's 10 times best quiz master Cllr. Phil Tarpeh Dixon lauded the LINSU for its remembrance in history as a milestone achievement which has got him as Liberia's Iconic quiz master.

 "There much be other groupings around the world if the U.S. Embassy that is an international grouping asking us to conduct quizzing, so it means that quizzing is internationally relevant. It rouses several groupings around the world and the first grouping to respond was the International Quizzing Association (IQA) responded to us in 2005, by 2006, we began to start having quizzing activities", said Africa's 10 times best Quiz master.

"I will like to share with you that it has been a tedious thing when it started, people were laughing but over the years, we have seen quizzing taking different dimensions. The head of the IQA in India, he's a Pilot in the Air force, he takes his military jet and go quiz; you can't say that he hasn't played his role; there are Quizzers around the world have serious-minded income. Interestingly, there have been gaps in our country, Liberia and that is while I am so excited that the LINSU decided to use a budgetary allotment on quizzing; I don't believe it's a separate allotment," Cllr. Dixon furthered.

At the same time, Cllr. Phil Tarpeh Dixon encouraged Liberian quizzers to study for future competition, stressing that the best quizzing team from Liberia this coming academic high school year will also have the opportunity to challenge their counterparts in the United States of America (USA).

"Interestingly, our own national Quizzing team will have the U.S team taking part next year. So the best high school team that won the U.S Championship in Quizzing will take part in our league online this year; we are still going to see if it's possible that they can take part in our academic county meet," he indicated.

"In 2021, we asked everybody we could find in Liberia whether government or elsewhere to aid us with plane tickets for our Quizzing team to travel to Nigeria. It was one lawmaker who gave us one plane ticket; and from my personal resources, I bought two plane tickets. In 2022, we had a situation where our National Quizzing team spent 11 days in Ghana waiting for Visa. Infact, the German denied us Visa before we filled an appeal before we got those players Visas," Africa's Quiz master narrated.