By Gami Tadanyigbe
DO Take Action, organiser of the Signing/Spelling Bee Initiative, has announced the second edition of the competition, describing the 2026 edition as a major expansion of its drive to promote inclusive education for children and young people with diverse abilities.
The organisation said the 2026 edition, scheduled for Oct. 30 at Lake Greenfield Hotel, Jahi, Abuja, will bring together deaf and hard-of-hearing learners, children with autism, ADHD and learning difficulties, visually impaired learners, as well as gifted and talented spellers.
According to DO Take Action, participants will be able to demonstrate their knowledge and spelling abilities using communication methods that work best for them, including Nigerian Sign Language, Braille, spoken and written formats.
The initiative, themed “Different Abilities, One Stage,” is being organised in partnership with Let’s Talk Humanity (LTH) as co-host, alongside supporting partners including Daisy Oak Foundation, Platonic Academy Namibia, Vivacity Foundation and Cedar Seed Foundation.
Precious Ebere, Executive Director of DO Take Action, said the initiative was designed to challenge perceptions about disability by creating opportunities for children to demonstrate their abilities.
“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?” Ebere said.
She added that the children should not be defined by their differences but recognised for their strengths.
The Signing Bee was launched in 2025 as a pilot programme in Abuja. DO Take Action said the success of the inaugural edition had encouraged the organisation to expand the competition in 2026 through a broader category structure, stronger partnerships and a plan to establish the initiative beyond Nigeria.
Fatima Ganduje Ajimobi of Let’s Talk Humanity said the organisation was proud to support the initiative, describing it as an opportunity to demonstrate inclusive education in practice.
She said inclusion should not be treated as an afterthought or accommodation but as a standard in designing educational opportunities for children.
“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,” she said.
A major highlight of the 2026 edition is the expansion of the Signing Bee beyond Nigeria, with Platonic Academy Namibia taking the hosting lead for the inaugural Signing Bee Namibia.
Amanda Mungunda, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Platonic Academy Namibia, said the partnership would help promote inclusion and visibility for children with diverse abilities.
She said the Namibian edition, scheduled for November, would represent an important step toward creating a continent-wide platform for disability inclusion.
Mungunda noted that Namibia had recorded growth in the number of primary schools with adapted infrastructure, but said further efforts were required to ensure that children with diverse abilities had opportunities to participate and showcase their strengths.
DO Take Action said the competition was intended to go beyond an annual event by contributing to broader efforts to make inclusive education a standard feature of education systems.
The organisation said it would use the partnerships and momentum generated through the Signing Bee to support wider initiatives aimed at removing barriers and creating meaningful opportunities for children with diverse abilities.
The 2026 Abuja competition will feature Junior (ages 8–14) and Senior (ages 15–18) categories.
The organisers are inviting schools, families, media organisations, sponsors and members of the public to register, partner with and support the initiative.
They are also calling on organisations and countries interested in hosting the competition under the DO Take Action framework to join the expansion of the initiative.
The organisation said its long-term objective was to develop the Signing Bee from a national platform into a recurring pan-African competition where children with diverse abilities across the continent could be “seen, heard, and celebrated.”
Event Details:
Event: Signing Bee 2026
Theme: Different Abilities, One Stage
Date: October 30, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Venue: Lake Greenfield Hotel, Jahi, Abuja
Organiser: DO Take Action
Co-Host: Let’s Talk Humanity
Supporting Partners: Daisy Oak Foundation, Platonic Academy, Cedar Seed Foundation
About DO Take Action
DO Take Action is a civic and social impact organisation working to strengthen systems, empower communities and advance sustainable development through evidence, innovation, technology and citizen engagement.